Backlash
by SoloMafia
Summary: The Oracion Seis have always been deadly, able to flatten guilds in an instant. However when the Dragonslayer of Acnologia joins their ranks, more questions are asked than answered. Fighting with himself in mind, Natsu Dragneel is a force to be reckoned with. And with the Allied Forces knocking on their doors, just who will the pink haired Dragon Prince choose to side with?
1. The Oración Seis

All members of the allied forces gathered around to be debriefed about just who they were going to be up against in the Oración seis. From Fairy Tail, Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfilia, Erza Scarlet, Happy the Cat and Elfman Strauss all stood somewhat impatiently, eager to get to the point after having been harassed by the wizards from Blue Pegasus for the past half hour.

From said guild, Hibiki Lates, Eve Tearm, Ren Akatsuki, and Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, stood ready to finally get down to business and stop harassing every lady who walked into the room.

From Lamina Scale, stood Lyon Vastia, Sherry Blendy and Jura Neekis, one of the ten wizard saints.

And finally, from Caitshelter, Wendy Marvel and her cat Carla stood alone, Wendy feeling somewhat uncomfortable around all of these new faces.

"First up is the snake wizard, Cobra" Hibiki stated as he pulled up a picture of a man with dark red hair, purple eyes, and was smirking devilishly with a purple serpent coiled around him. He sported a black shirt and pants with a white trenchcoat over his shirt."Next up," Hibiki continued as he pulled up another picture "A wizard, who, likely uses speed magic as suggested by his name, Racer" The picture was of the back of a scowling man with blonde hair and a very pointy nose, who also sported glasses and a red and white racing suit.

"Not sure what it is, but I don't like the looks of this guy" Gray muttered mostly to himself, but Lyon caught on and quickly agreed with his fellow Ice Make wizard.

Hibiki, ignoring the little remark completely, continued on with his debrief as he pulled open a picture of a men with an oddly stone like face and features, with orange hair, and blue eyes. He wore a priest like shirt and red pants, with a red necklace and had a book tucked close to his chest. "Then there is the man who is willing to wipe out an entire military unit, if the price is right, he goes by the name Hot-Eye."

"The guy kills for money?" Sherry weakly called out, a sick look on her face.

"Turns my stomach," Jura said in agreement.

Hibiki still continued on, pulling up a picture of a woman with snow white hair and purple eyes, who was wearing a startlingly revealing dress, leaving little of her voluptuous figure to the imagination, and was made out of snow white feathers to match her hair.. "She's gorgeous but just as vicious, this is Angel."

"She's the beautiful but deadly type huh? Is this chick for real?" Lucy questioned.

"And then of course, there's Midnight, but he was captured years ago, thrown in jail and is still there to this day" Hibiki said as he pulled up the article of Midnight's arrest.

"So we must only worry about 5 of them?" Erza asked.

Hibiki sighed, "No, they recruited another member, but we'll get to him later. In the Oración Seis, there of course is their guildmaster, Brain" Hibiki said as he pulled up a picture of a man with dark skin, bright white hair, black eyes and some sort of tribal tattoos all over his face and body. He wore an open coat which showed his chest that had more tribal tattoos and carried a staff that looked like a skull with a ball in it's mouth

"Ok, so there's the original Oración Seis, but what about the new guy you were talking about?" Gray asked

"I was getting to him," Hibiki replied, fiddling with a few more keys before he finally pulled up another image. This was of a man with surprisingly pink hair and onyx eyes. He was smirking and his overgrown canines were able to be seen by the world, he sported a dark blue t-shirt that clung to his body and camouflage cargo pants and had a black katana slung across his back. "If you've been hunting dark wizards for a while, this guy should be familiar to you, his real name is still unknown but he goes by Salamander."

"Wait a minute," Lyon said, "Isn't this the guy who took on that entire legion of Rune Knights near Onibus and won?"

Hibiki sighed, "The very one, he's the newest to the Oración Seis but he's been causing chaos for years before his joining, it's even rumored that he was helping Eisenwald with their Lullaby mission."

Erza shook her head, "No, he didn't help them, we destroyed Eisenwald and we never saw any trace of this man."  
"That's because he was in Crocus, on a mission, which he succeeded in only 2 weeks after Eisenwald's defeat" Ren calmly responded.

"Who would he want to kill in Crocus, that whole place is swarming with security because it's the Capitol." Sherry asked.

Ren snorted, "And all that security did nothing when he nearly blew the head off of the King himself while standing only 10 feet away from him."

That made everyone freeze. If the king was in the room then the levels of security should be off the roof. "But why wouldn't he kill the king? Did he miss?" Lyon asked, curiosity creeping into his voice.

Hibiki responded this time, "His mission wasn't to kill the king, it was to let him know that he easily could have killed the king if he wanted to. It was essentially a wake-up call to the entire nation. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."  
"We we're pretty preoccupied after dealing with Eisenwald, we we're on a job on Galuna Island." Gray said, his eyes only momentarily flickering to Lyon, who flinched at the word Galuna.

"What type of magic does he use?" Jura asked, wishing to know more about his opponent.

"We still don't know" Hibiki responded, his eyes still glued to the picture of the smirking Salamander.

"We only have a small amount of info on the Salamander, but it's more than the others" Hibiki sighed. "He is completely ruthless in taking down anyone who stands in his way, ally or not, and has no quarrel with ending their life if they piss him off enough. That and he has some sort of connection to both Zeref and Acnologia." The temperature in the room seemed to drop at least 10 degrees at the mention of the Dragon of the Apocalypse and the Black Wizard."

"Question… who is Acnologia?" Lucy asked, still trembling at the thought that they were going up against someone with connections to Zeref.

Jura answered this one. "Acnologia is the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, said to be ruthless and even rumored to have destroyed an entire continent before, but hasn't been spotted in over 350 years."

"So is it possible that Salamander could be a Dragon Slayer?" Erza questioned.

"That's our best guess, and we know how hard it is to fight against a Dragon Slayer." Hibiki sighed.

All of the Fairy Tail mages remembered the fight against Phantom Lord and how it took both Gray and Erza to subdue Gajeel before the Iron Dragon Slayer's scales finally broke and Gray got a lucky shot in to end the match.

Hibiki seemed to shake his head before speaking again. "Getting back on topic, we have 12 to the Oración Seis' six, but that's our only advantage." Hibiki said, finally closing his Archive Magic.

"Question, can I volunteer to stay behind and not die today?" Lucy asked, shaking with fear in the process of facing down the man who had connections to the Apocalypse Dragon and the Evilest Wizard in all of History.

"I don't want to die either so may I please go home," Wendy begged, her entire body shaking with fear.

"You may not! We have a job to do child!" Carla scolded the small bluenette, who gave her a shaky nod in response.

"Face your, my friends, as there is more to our operation than merely fighting the Oración Seis! With your help, it is possible that we may even find the enemy's stronghold!" Ichiya proclaimed

"Stronghold?" Elfman asked.

"Yeah, you heard the man, we've looked everywhere but we've found nothing, so they most likely have some sort of camp out in the woods somewhere," Ren replied

"And once we have located it, our plan is to gather the Oración Seis inside!" Ichiya finished

"And how do we do that?" Gray asked.

"We fight them! Like real men!" Elfman proclaimed

"I think you're a tad to excited about this." Lucy sweatdropped, but Elfman appeared to have not heard her as he was still muttering about how he would fight the Dark Guild like a real man and other things.

"What is the next part of the plan?" Erza asked Ichiya.

With a shout, the weird little midget man happily exclaimed "Then! We Give them a one way ticket to oblivion! Courtesy of Christina, the pride of the Blue Pegasus Guild!"

Sherry and Lyon's comical expressions were humorous, as Sherry muttered "I'd heard about the magic bomber, but I thought it was just a myth."

"Woah!" Lucy exclaimed "Is that really necessary, there's only 6 of them!"

"That is the type of enemy we face!" Jura stated firmly, promptly scaring the life out of Lucy, causing her to yelp and squeak out a 'Sir yes sir!' in response.

"Remember, under no circumstances is anyone to engage any one of the Oración Seis in single combat, our best bet is to separate them and then engage them in combat." Jura reminded.

"Alright! Let's Go!" Elfman roared as he activated his beast arm and rushed out the door, eager to show the Oración Seis his manliness.

"And there he goes again…" Erza trailed off.

"Does Elfman even have any idea where he's going?" Lucy asked.

"What do you think Mira would do if she caught him doing this?" That one came from Gray.

"Oh she'd definitely beat him senseless," Happy replied.

"Well, I guess we're playing catchup with that brash idiot," Gray muttered as he and Erza quickly raced after Elfman's retreating form, the rest of the Alliance in tow, bar Jura and Ichiya.

"I'm too old for this" Jura muttered under his breath before turning to Ichiya. "Anyways the plan is now underway, we should join the others as soon as we can.

Ichiya quickly gestured to Jura with a finger gun like motion and said "Know your role, Shiny Dome, I've heard through the grapevines that you are one of the Wizard Saints. Is that true?"

Jura nodded. "Indeed I am."  
"It is quite the honor to fight beside someone as skilled as Makarov."

"I would not go that far" Jura said, stopping Ichiya in his tracks. "While I am honored to have the title, it is given to whom the council deems worthy. There is still quite a gap between my skill level and Makarov's"

"I see," Ichiya said, "Why that might just be the best thing I've heard all day." He then popped of the cap of one of his parfumes. "If you were as powerful as that fossil, it would make my job quite difficult." The content of Ichiya's parfume wafted over to Jura's nose, who then collapsed to his knees with a cry of "What is that smell!?"

"Ah yes, this parfume causes the opponent to lose their will to fight"  
"I-Ichiya, wh-what have you done" Jura coughed out as he dropped his staff and slumped forwards. Ichiya only popped the cap to another parfume in response.

"Ah yes, that's more like it, writhe in pain for me will you? I hope you are enjoying this smell." Ichiya said coldly as Jura fell onto his back, gasping for air.

"Oh wait, that's not right, I mean to say parfume," Ichiya said as he suddenly shifted into a ball of light and then turned into two small flying blue dolls with black eyes.

"Thank god we're back to normal!" One of them exclaimed.

"Ugh, his head was filled with perverted thoughts." The other grumbled.

"Ah, ah, ah, no complaining, you aren't done yet," a cold melodic voice said as a figure stepped into the clearing where Jura laid gasping for air. He looked up only to have his eyes widen in shock.

"N-no! Not you, Wh-why are you here?" He exclaimed.

"Aww, isn't it obvious, you've been duped darling, I had Gemini here simply copy your little midget friend, to his tiny little body to every little thought in his perverted mind, so now we know you're plan" the woman giggled. "Let this be a lesson to you, children of the light, the Oración Seis, cannot be stopped."

And with that, she kicked Jura in the head, knocking him out cold.

"Alright darlings, you can go home for now," she giggled as Gemini let out a cry of joy as they both dissolved into light, returning to the spirit world.

Meanwhile, the rest of the alliance was in shock as they watched the pride of Blue Pegasus fall from the sky, smoke billowing out of the ship as it crashed into the ground and exploded violently, causing a huge pillar of smoke to arise from the forest beneath the cliff where they were standing.

"Wow, so we have company," Gray finally said, snapping everyone out of their shock as they looked forwards, and saw six figures walking out of the smoke, confirming everyone's fears as the Oración Seis stepped out of the smoke.

"Lowly maggots," Brain snarled. "Swarming together."

Angel gave the wizards in front of her a sexy smirk before saying "I'm afraid that short stuff isn't going to be joining us."  
"Yeah!, and neither is that big, bald wizard saint!" exclaimed one of the Gemini.

"We took him out!" The other chimed cheerfully.

"No, that's impossible." Lyon muttered.

"There's terror in their voices, I can hear it," Cobra smirked.

"The sooner we're done here, the better," Racer said, barely paying any attention to the wizards in front of him.

"Money decides power in this world! Oh yeah! If you save but a penn-" Hot-Eye began before he was cut off by both Cobra and Racer telling him to shut up. Causing the Salamander in the back to roll his eyes and lean against a tree trunk, closing his eyes as well, as if napping.

"Is is weird that I am terrified of the sleeping guy?" Lucy whispered, her eyes locked on the careless form of the Salamander, who seemed to be actually seconds away from falling asleep.

Angel giggled as she walked over to the Salamander and shook his shoulder, "C'mon Natsu, we have work to do, besides, those Fairy's you wanted are here." She said, clearly amused, as mirth shined in her eyes by the dark mage, now known as Natsu, who opened his eyes at the word Fairy.

He looked over all of the people standing before him and seemed to shrug his shoulders "No, the Iron Dragon Slayer is not with them, he's the only one I wanted." Natsu said in a dead monotone as he closed his eyes again.

"Aw shut up and fight me, like a real man!" Elfman yelled as he charged on in towards Natsu, Gray close behind him.

Natsu seemed to reach for the katana strapped to his his back, but quickly let his hands fall to his side as Racer sped in front of him and dropkicked both Gray and Elfman, sending them flying.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Racer mocked "Engage that guy and it'll be the last thing that you do."

With Gray and Elfman's failure, the rest of the alliance seemed to be snapped out of their shock and they all attacked the Oración Seis at once. Lyon and Sherry charging Hot-Eye, Erza engaging Cobra, Lucy fighting, sort of, against Angel, with Ren, Hibiki and Eve struggling against Racer, and Wendy hiding behind a rock, fearing for her life.

"Elfman! Gray!" Two Lucy's cried out, only for both of them to look at each other and mirror the same confused expression before one of them let a cruel smirk work it's way onto her face as she kneed the other Lucy in the stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs as another knee was driven into her forehead, knocking Lucy flat on her back as the other Lucy was revealed to Gemini, who high-fived at their easy take down of the Blonde Mage.

Hibiki, Ren and Eve's fight against Racer was short lived as all he did was run circles around the struggling mages, as if mocking them.

"How are we even supposed to track this guy Eve?" Hibiki said, only to receive no response. "Eve?" He called again, looking over his shoulder to see Eve and Ren out cold on the ground, and his brain briefly processed the flash of red and white in front of him before the world went black for him as well.

Lyon and Sherry also had little luck against Hot-Eye, as the Dark Mage turned the ground and simply laughed out "I see yoouuu" before turning the ground beneath their feet to quicksand, causing them to sink in, and for the two wizards to cry out in shock. Thinking quickly, Lyon froze the ground and pulled himself and Sherry out, and dove out of the way as Hot-Eye attempted the same trick again.

" **Ice Make: Eagle!"** Lyon cried, sending a flurry of icy birds of prey at Hot-Eye while Sherry summoned a Golem to help out, only for both of their attacks to be blocked by Hot-Eye raising the earth to block both attacks, and before Lyon could cast another spell, he saw Sherry take a fist to the back of the head and crumple to the ground.

"Sherry!" He cried out, only to see the flash of red and white left behind by Racer as Lyon took a devastating uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying backwards into unconsciousness.

" **Requip!** " Erza shouted as she requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor and willed a large amount of swords to appear alongside her as she took aim at Cobra. " **Circle Sword! Dance my blades!** " Erza yelled as all of the swords she summoned took a circular formation and launched at Cobra, who smirked and calmly sidestepped each blade that came flying towards him, the smirk never leaving his face, as Erza had not even managed to scratch Cobra's trenchcoat.

"H-how? He dodged them all!" Erza exclaimed. "Can he read my thoughts?" Shaking herself out of her stupor, Erza quickly requipped into her Flight Armor in the attempt to outspeed Cobra and strike him before he could block her.

It was to no avail however as Cobra still easily dodged each and every strike thrown his was by Erza, with that smug grin never leaving his face. "It's no use, I can hear your every move Titania!" Cobra exclaimed, the grin on his face only growing more maniacal.

 _He is reading me! But how?!_ Erza thought furiously as she tried to come up with some plan to strike down Cobra.

"Aw, you look so confused. Having a hard time figuring it out?" Cobra mocked as Erza backtracked a few feet from him to catch her breath. "I hear everything!"

Having quickly caught her breath, Erza launched at Cobra with a flurry of attacks, each stroke becoming more and more desperate as she fought to land a single blow on the Snake Wizard, who seemed to grow more amused as Erza grew desperate.

In one quick move, Cobra caught both of Erza's blades, holding her in a stalemate as he continued to berate her. "I can hear it all you know. Just like a symphony, your muscles contracting, every breath that you take, and each and everyone one of your little thoughts." Cobra mocked as he sifted through her thoughts and froze when he came upon the memory of a small girl with one eye.

"Wh-what the? You were there?!" Cobra demanded, letting his guard down for the first time since the two sides met. Erza, capitalizing on this opportunity, lunged at Cobra, hoping to strike him down, before Racer slammed into her, sending her flying as she let go of both of her swords by instinct.

"Tch," Cobra muttered, getting over his shock. "Cubellios!" He called out as the serpent who had so patiently waited at his side suddenly lunged and latched itself onto Erza's arm, causing her to cry out in pain as it shook her from side to side before sending her flying, and resulted in a rough landing on the ground.

Cobra chuckled at the result. "You may be fast but that won't save you from Cubellios's bite. Enjoy writhing in agony until the sweet release of death" Cobra mocked, seemingly enjoying Erza's pain.

As Erza hit the ground, the last of the Allied Forces fell, leaving a obliterated force of light guilds, and an unscathed dark guild. "How pathetic" Brain muttered. "Prepare for death!" He shouted as he pointed his skull staff at the fallen wizards and a dark green light began to eminate from the skull. " **Dark Rondo!** " the tattooed man yelled as he prepared to bring the staff down, but froze at the sight of one blue haired girl who was shivering behind a rock. He froze completely, as the spell flickered out on the top of his staff, the rest of his guild seemed to notice, even Natsu bothered cracking open an eye to see what was happening. "What's the matter Brain, you haven't gone soft have you," He lightly jeered at the guildmaster, who paid him no mind as he stared at the small girl, causing Natsu to follow his gaze and realize that he didn't need the Iron Dragon Slayer to get the information he needed.

There was another Dragon Slayer standing right in front of him.

It was completely obvious really, her aura reeked of untapped power, the power that only a dragon could possess.

"Wendy…" Brain trailed off, causing Natsu to arch and eyebrow, so that was her name.

"You know her?" Cobra asked, unsure of why they hadn't killed the wizards in front of them yet.

"Indeed I do, we've made quite the find today, my friends." Brain chuckled darkly. "Grab her!" He shouted as a green hand erupted from the top of his skull staff and whipped it's way around to where Wendy was hiding, grabbing both her and Happy before anyone could react and reeling them back in at a lightning speed before they both disappeared.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Ok that's a new one." He admitted with a small smirk, but then frowned again when he heard Erza cry out again in pain from Cubellios's poison working it's way into her system.

"All of you are of no use to us now, begone! **Dark Rondo!** " Brain yelled as he actually casted the spell this time, sending several beams of dark green energy towards the fallen mages, before turning away and ordering the others to follow him. Natsu shrugged and pushed himself off of the tree, but was stopped by Brain. "No Natsu, stay here and take care of any survivors." Brain said as he continued walking with the rest of the Oración Seis at his back.

Natsu sighed, why was he always given the survivors jobs. Just because he was trained by the Dragon of the Apocalypse he was immediately given the job to wipe out any survivors that could pose a possible threat to the Oración Seis, and it got very tedious.

Reeling himself back from his thoughts, Natsu was confused to see a stone arch over where the mages had just been lying, since when did any of them have rock manipulation magic? He was pretty sure that only the fallen Wizard Saint had that kind of magic. Did Angel not take care of him like she said that she did?

Voices brought Natsu back to the land of the living again, while he mentally cursed himself for getting lost in his thoughts twice as he listened in on the conversation happening near him as he quickly ran over to the rock arch and climbed on top to listen in on their conversation, slightly impressed with himself for not being noticed.

"The Oración Seis, what unbelievable power" Natsu heard Lyon mutter. Well not really unbelievable, Natsu believed it, so it wasn't unbelievable.

"And there are only six of them, their magic is much stronger than the rumors suggested." Hibiki agreed, grudgingly.

 _We have rumors?_ Natsu wondered.

"Just look at what they did to Christina!" Sherry cried.

 _The ship I shot down? That wasn't even hard, the white haired ice dude could've done that_

"According to Angel, they know everything about our mission, we were lucky no lives were lost."

 _So Angel, who's side are you on here?_ Natsu wondered, making a mental note to talk to her about that when he got back. Just his luck, the next guild he got forced into didn't even have loyal members. Natsu also wondered how on earth the people below him hadn't heard Erza's moans of agony however, maybe it was just his heightened senses?

"I'm glad to see you made it out unscathed," Lyon remarked, looking Jura once over.

"Not quite, in fact I barely made it out alive." Jura remarked, causing more curiosity in Natsu's head, Angel apparently told Jura that the Oración Seis know about their plan, but also tried to kill him? Or was the Wizard Saint just really clumsy and fell down a cliff trying to get here. Maybe Angel just failed to kill him. Regardless, he was still going to speak to Angel about this. "Their power terrifies me." Jura shivered. "I hate to admit it, but if it weren't for Ichiya here, I would be in utter agony right now, thanks to his painkiller parfume, that is not the case."

 _So most likely just failed to kill him_.

"Yes! Everyone take a whiff, and let my painkiller parfume ease your discomfort!" Ichiya cried before popping the cap off of one of his tubes which let a soothing scent into the air which washed away almost all of the allied forces pain.

"Kidnapping little girls and cats is not manly! I say we go and teach them a lesson!" Elfman cried as he raced off in hopes to punch one of the members of the Oración Seis in the face, only to trip over the groaning Erza who was weakly trying to get to her feet, the venom seeping into her arm.

"Oh my god, Erza, are you ok?" Lucy asked.

 _Dumb question_ , Natsu thought, _she is obviously in a ton of pain_.

Erza tried to answer, but only let out a cry of pain as the venom seemed to spread further into her arm, causing Natsu to flinch. _I hate it when he lets his snake bite people and then leaves them to die, just end them quickly you asshole._

"I know what you need, my dear, just a little more of my painkiller parfume!" Ichiya said as he cracked open another bottle of painkiller parfume, a parfume that was now becoming painfully strong in Natsu's nostrils, as ironic as that is.

All that the increase in 'healing' that Ichiya caused was Erza crying out louder as the pain from the venom got worse.

"L-lucy." Erza choked out. "I-I'm sorry about this, but I need your belt!" Erza said through gritted teeth as she stole Lucy's belt, causing the blonde to yelp and have to hold her shorts up, while Erza made a makeshift tourniquet out of the belt.

"Erza, what are you doing?" Gray asked, completely confused.

"I know this is drastic," Erza said as she tightened the belt and stabbed one of her now recovered swords in the ground. "But somebody remove my arm."

Natsu wondered if he was hearing things right. Remove the arm? Yeah just a little drastic. She does know that with the tourniquet the poison won't reach her heart right?

The allied forces seemed to be in shock at this, before Lyon quickly claimed that he would do it, only to be stopped cold in his tracks by Gray, who refused to let him. _It's a miracle they ever get anything done,_ Natsu thought to himself. The little standoff between the two Ice Make Wizards lasted until Erza finally collapsed from the pain in her arm, causing everyone to cry out in shock and for Natsu to finally give in.

 _You would think that having lived with the Dragon of the Apocalypse would help me let these things go but nooooooo._ Natsu thought sarcastically to himself as he jumped down off of the stone archway making himself known to the Allied Forces, shocking them as Jura instinctively shot a pillar of rocks at him which Natsu calmly sidestepped and said,

"Now is that any way to treat someone who's willing to help?"

* * *

 _And that's chapter one of my first Fairy Tail Fanfic, lemme know what you thought and if anyone wants to see me continue this. I got the idea when I combined two ideas that I had, the ideas being Natsu in the Oración Seis and Natsu being that Dragon Slayer of Acnologia (that idea should've been clear, if not then oh well) but yeah._

 _By the way, there's a poll up asking who I should pair Natsu with in this story, so vote if you want a certain pairing/_

 _Lemme know what you thought and I will see you later my ProcrastiNation_

 _~Solo_


	2. Raising the Dead

Jura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What do you mean help. And answer quickly, there are twelve of us and one of you, we have the upperhand here" He asked dangerously.

Natsu shrugged at the obvious distrust coming from the bald wizard saint. "Yeah but you're all wounded, and I'm not. Listen, my point is, you need Wendy to heal her, I need to speak to Wendy, and Brain isn't going to let me anywhere near her unless I threaten to kick his ass, and I really don't need to do that three times in one week. We both need the girl, so I figured that we could help each other out."

Gray snorted. "Typical for a Dark Guild, always ready to betray each other, not bothering to try to make their Guild into a family." He muttered to himself, not knowing that with Natsu's heightened senses, he could easily hear him, and of course, Natsu heard the remark immediately, causing his eyes to darken dangerously.  
"Those self-obsessive worms will never be my family, the only family I had left me for dead 5 years ago." Natsu snarled, causing Gray to flinch at the dark tone in the Dark Mage's voice.

"Regardless of whether they are your family or not, I refuse to work with my enemy, how do we know that you haven't been sent here by Brain to befriend us then betray us?" Jura questioned, causing Elfman, Gray, Lyon, Sherry and Ren to agree, while the rest looked conflicted at the offer to save Erza's life.

Natsu shrugged at the question. "You don't, but you have the offer to save the redhead's life right in front of you, and you are going to shoot it down?" Natsu shot right back at the wizard saint. "Not the brightest idea."

"He has a point…" Lucy pointed out, but trailing off as she didn't know what to say after that.

"Yeah but he's also a part of one of the darkest guilds in all of Fiore." Gray retorted, causing Lucy to go silent.

"Yeah, but Wendy can also apparently heal Erza, you might want to explain that to us first Salamander," Hibiki said.

"Oh that's simple, Wendy's a Sky Dragon Slayer, allowing her to use Sky Magic to heal people." Natsu said nonchalantly as he grew bored of this conversation.

"You're lying." was the immediate response that came from Jura, preventing Natsu from further explaining why he needed to speak to the girl.

"Actually," Came the curt voice of Carla. "He's telling the truth, Wendy is indeed a Sky Dragon Slayer who possesses the art of being able to heal her comrades."

"See, the cat knows that I'm telling the truth."

"That does not mean that I side with you, I do not want to let Wendy anywhere near barbarians such as yourself." Carla snapped at Natsu, who rolled his eyes at the cat.

"Wendy, that small little girl, is a Dragon Slayer?" Sherry asked, confused on how such a small girl could use such powerful magic.

"Frankly I'm surprised that I recognized it before you, her aura is pretty strong for a twelve year old, anyways, we got a deal?" Natsu asked, brow raised, wanting to know any other reasons they had left to not accept his deal.

There was a pregnant pause before Jura finally responded again. "The answer is still no, you appear to be telling the truth about Wendy, but I still do not trust you and it would appear that we have quite some time before Erza dies, so we will figure something out."

"She's dying, and just because I'm from a Dark Guild you are going to deny my offer?" Natsu asked, his eyes narrowing  
"We will figure something out, you have overstayed your welcome Salamander, leave." Jura stated, his resolve just as firm as his magic.

Natsu shrugged. "If she dies, know that it's your fault for denying my offer." Was all he said before he was covered in a flash of blue and vanished, leaving all of the Allied Forces present confused.

"Did he just teleport?" Lucy finally asked, breaking the confused silence that had fallen upon them.

"Impossible, Teleportation is supposed to an extremely difficult magic to master, leaving little room for other magics, the Oración Seis would never enlist a teleportation mage." Jura stated, confusion still clear in his voice.

"It would explain how he got so close to the king though," Lyon muttered, his mind backtracking to Salamander's previous terror mission.

"But not his connection to Zeref and Acnologia," Gray argued back.

"But we must remember that neither of those were ever confirmed." Hibiki stated, "Both were rumors being passed around, I suspect the connections were assumed because he is supposedly extremely deadly and destructive when engaged in combat."

"It makes sense, but we still don't know for sure." Jura muttered. "Salamander, you appear to be even more of an enigma than the rest of the Oración Seis."

Natsu promptly sneezed when he reappeared outside of the Oración Seis' temporary base in a cave, a very nice cave if Natsu said so himself, but not that it mattered. It was decorated with a lot of candles, providing plenty of light, and there were a couple of skulls here and there. So a very nice cave indeed. When Natsu entered, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, Racer was standing around doing nothing and Angel, Hot-Eye and Cobra were still looking for Nirvana.

Oh yeah and Brain was threatening a little girl with a giant coffin with an unconscious man with blue hair inside it behind him

So yeah nothing out of the ordinary.

After Brain apparently gave the girl 5 minutes to do something, Natsu walked over.

"Give her 15, I need to talk to her." Natsu said as he walked up behind Brain, causing the man to jump a bit before responding.

"No, she has 5 minutes and you will not speak to her." Brain retorted, causing Natsu to raise an eyebrow.

"She has 15 minutes, because I need to speak to her about her dragon." Natsu said, making Brain tense up at the subject of Dragons, and how important they were to Natsu. Knowing that he would get nowhere with Natsu once dragons were involved, Brain relented. "Unless I need to persuade you with my fists." Natsu threatened.

Brain's face seemed to pale slightly at the thought of a fight with the Dragon Slayer, causing a little confusion in Wendy and Happy, shouldn't the Guildmaster be the most powerful mage in their guild? "Fine, she has 15 minutes, 10 of which you get to speak to her about her dragon." Brain grumbled as he stalked outside the candlelit cave, Racer following close behind, causing Natsu to roll his eyes at his guildmaster.

"So he's just a bundle of joy huh?" Natsu said, looking down at the crying little girl at his feet. "Your name is Wendy right?" Natsu continued, hoping to get at least somewhere with this conversation.

"Y-yes." Came the shaky reply.

"I'm Natsu, Brain said something about you being a Dragon Slayer?"

Wendy was still shaking, but she seemed to collect herself before shyly replying. "Um.. yes, I'm the Sky Dragon Slayer." Wendy mumbled.

Natsu smiled at her confirmation of what he already knew, he crouched down so that he could look the little girl in the eyes with no height difference. "Well, it's always nice to meet another Dragon Slayer." Natsu said, causing Wendy's eyes to shoot up from her knees straight to Natsu.

"Y-you're a Dragon Slayer?" Wendy asked, as if not wanting to believe it.

Natsu nodded. "Apocalypse Dragon Slayer, trained by Acnologia himself." Natsu said, as a harsh blue energy surrounded Natsu's hand, before he snapped his fingers and it went out, not so subtly proving that he was immensely powerful to Wendy, who's eyes widened even further, as she learned who Acnologia was not even 3 hours ago.

"I-isn't that the Dragon of the Apocalypse?" Wendy asked fearfully, flinching when Natsu nodded.

"Yep, big black and blue dragon that could easily destroy an entire island with a single breath attack." Natsu stated proudly "He also destroyed a continent once, he was pretty proud about that. Pompous bastard." Natsu chuckled at the thought of his foster father boasting about that feat, making Wendy shrink away from Natsu even further before Natsu broke himself from his memories and moved on with the… 'conversation' it could be called.

"But, enough about me. Did your Dragon disappear as well?" Natsu asked Wendy, who only nodded, not wanting to remember the day that she woke up to find herself abandoned by Grandeeney.

"Well, mine did as well, when did your's leave?" Natsu asked, wanting to know if hers disappeared on the same day as his.

"Well.. she left on July 7th, X777, which I always thought was kinda weird." Wendy mumbled, but just loud enough for both Natsu and Happy to hear, and causing the blue cat to chime in as well.

"Gajeel also said that his dragon also left on July 7th, X777, did all the dragons disappear on that day?" Happy asked Wendy, but instead Natsu answered.

"No." Natsu said, firmly. "Acnologia disappeared on December 16th X779, so it was most likely just a coincidence that this 'Gajeel' and Wendy's dragons left on the same day. However I do wonder..." Natsu trailed off, seemingly lost in thought before he snapped out of it.

"Anyways, that's pretty much all I wanted to ask you, if you were a dragon slayer and when your dragon left, thanks for answering." Natsu said as he stood up and brushed his pants off, before taking about three steps away from them, but then he took one look at the coffin and stopped. Just looking at the azure haired man and hearing what Brain had said earlier made Natsu think. What does Wendy owe to Jellal anyways, he was always so focused on himself and his goal of completing that tower, so she likely knows someone else with the same name and similar looks, but a tattoo like that across the eye is pretty rare...

"I know that you want to repay Jellal for all he did for you, but the Jellal in front of you is not the man you think he is, revive him if you must, but he won't be the same person." Was all Natsu said before yelling for Brain that he was done and walked outside the cave, leaving Wendy and Happy alone, as tears started to roll down Wendy's cheeks again.

There was a solid 12 minutes of silence in the cave. Wendy had stopped sobbing and now only was curled up in the fetal position, with Natsu watching her calmly from the cave's entrance, Racer and Brain had re-entered the cave, and the blue cat was out cold on the wall from being flung into by Brain.

Then things got interesting.

"Your time is up." Brain grumbled, causing Wendy to stir just a little.

"I… I don't know" Wendy cried out, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks as Natsu felt a small flutter of sympathy arise in his chest, which he quickly squashed down.

"Happy! Wendy!" Natsu's ears perked up at the sound of the Ice-Mage from earlier.

Brain heard it as well and growled at Natsu. "I told you to eliminate all the survivors."

Natsu shrugged. "All of them survived thanks to the Wizard Saint that Angel failed to kill, you want me to take 12 on 1, that's nice, but don't throw a Wizard Saint into the mix"  
Brain growled again. "Racer, take care of them." He growled out to the pointy nosed man who eagerly ran out of the cave in pursuit of the mages who were near. "Now that's over with, revive him little girl. Your magic can bring him back! Now, will you help your friend or leave him to die?"

Receiving no response from the small bluenette, Brain's temper grew short. "You must!" He snapped.

"I-I-I can't" Wendy sobbed, burying her face in her hands as tears streamed through her fingers".

Wendy fully expected some sort of negative reaction from Brain at her statement, but to her surprise, Brain seemed to have calmed down and only took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Very well, Natsu, end his life, if she will not revive him, he is of no use to us." Brain said as he looked over to the dragon slayer, who rolled his eyes but walked towards Jellal anyways. Wendy visibly flinched when she saw him draw his katana off his back and slowly walk his way over to Jellal, ready to end his life, but only when he slashed at Jellal did Wendy react.

"Stop!" Wendy cried out, causing Natsu to change the course of his blade, only leaving a shallow cut on Jellal's arm which didn't even draw blood instead of removing his head from his shoulders. "Stop, just please stop, I'll do it." Wendy obliged, defeat clear in her voice. Natsu's only response was shrugging as he placed his katana back in the sheath on his back.

"Wonderful." Brain said as he dragged the little girl over to Jellal and pulled him from the coffin, laying him down in front of the little girl, who sobbed before choking out a spell.

" **Sky Dragon's Healing Light.** " The little girl whimpered as her hands began to glow a soft blue and she placed them on the comatose Jellal, who began to look better immediately. His skin went from a deathly pale to a healthy tan, his dull blue hair seemed to regain a vibrant sense to it.

Natsu would never admit it to anyone, but he was awed by the little girl's magic, at such a young age and she already had the power to basically revive the dead. Natsu could only imagine how powerful she would be when she reached his age. She could present a challenge to him. Well, at his current level of power at least.

Wendy continued to heal the comatose Jellal, but Natsu could still hear the sounds of battle going on outside, and it seemed like the Ice Wizard was holding his own against Racer at the moment, and apparently sent someone to fetch the little girl. Well it would be too late by the time they got to her.

Natsu turned to the entrance of the cave and drew his katana, eager to engage his oncoming opponent and knock them flat on their ass.

"Natsu, why are you drawing your sword?" Brain asked, his gaze momentarily flickering to the Dragon Slayer, who berated himself for forgetting that only he had enhanced hearing.

"Someone from the Allied Forces approaches, I think it's that white haired idiot from earlier." Natsu said as he calmly twirled his sword in his hands, calmly walking towards the entrance of the cave to fight the muscular idiot when someone coughing stopped him in his tracks. He turned around to see a sight that apparently made Brain very happy.

Jellal had woken up.

"Weeeeelll Good Morning Sunshine," Natsu drawled sarcastically at Jellal, who's unfocused gaze snapped to him without the slightest bit of recognition in his eyes, only confusion and concern. Jellal struggled to get up, eventually causing Brain to extend his hand and hoist Jellal to his feet where Jellal staggered over to the wall to regain his balance, breathing heavily as he did so. Apparently coming out of a coma was very tiring.

"Woah.." Natsu heard someone gasp from the entrance. He looked over to see the white haired fool who had rushed him earlier standing there with his mouth open while the white cat next to him was more concerned with the sobbing little girl who was apologizing at a mile a minute.

"Wendy!" The white cat called out. "Why did you use your healing magic on him? You know that it drains you drastically!" And as if on cue, the little girl collapsed from her overuse of healing magic, only giving a small cry of exhaustion as consciousness left her. "Wendy!" The white cat shouted, concern easily identifiable in her voice as she rushed over to the little girl, not caring for the three legendary dark mages standing near her.

Natsu respected that, the white cat didn't care who was in her way, she was going to make sure that her family was okay. Not a lot of people had that trait.

"I don't know who you are and what you're doing here, but making little girls faint and cry is not manly! **Beast Arm: Black Bull!** " The white haired mage cried as he rushed towards Jellal, only to be stopped dead in his tracks when Jellal lazily extended his arm and blasted him across the cave into a wall, which promptly crumbled onto him, with a ray of golden light.

"Elfman!' The blue cat, having just regained consciousness cried. Natsu briefly noted that the white haired mage's name was Elfman, and he would no longer have to refer to him as the white haired idiot.

"It's good to see that being comatose hasn't diminished your magic power," Brain noted to Jellal, who simply gave him a bored look before blasting him across the room as well before turning to Natsu who only raised an eyebrow.

"If you wanna go Bluey than just say the word." Natsu said, as he raised his fists into a fighting position.

Jellal didn't respond, but rather shot another blast of magic at Natsu, who sidestepped and delivered a devastating uppercut to Jellal and sent him flying across the cave. "Well done Brain, you revived an uncontrollable mage who was immense amounts of magic to use on us." Natsu mumbled, squinting his eyes in the dim light of the cave to see if Jellal had gotten up yet.

A bright flash of light was all the warning Natsu was given before his eyes widened and took the full brunt of the attack head on, sending flying out of the cave into the water outside, groaning as he began smoking and felt like he had just been suckerpunched by a Vulcan on at least 7 different types of steroids with coals covering its fists.

Taking a second to catch his breath before forcing himself to his feet, Natsu stood up and saw the oh so smug Jellal smirking as he walked out of the cave. Natsu snarled at Jellal before his hands began to glow a harsh blue and prepared to discharge a fully charged magical punch into Jellal's head. Jellal, who stepped out of the cave and squinted at the sunlight, was completely oblivious to the angered Dragon Slayer, as he was blinded by the sun due to it being his first time seeing it in months.

Only to be suckerpunched right back into the dark cave by an angry Natsu.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu roared as he felt his energy covered fist make contact with the blue haired mage, and felt a great sense of pride when he heard the air leave Jellal's lungs, and sent him flying backwards like a ragdoll into the inky darkness of the cave

Maybe he'll have some sense and stay down this time. Natsu thought as he grunted and leaned heavily on the side of the cave. Whatever was in that spell Jellal has used, it burned and packed a hell of a punch if it caught you off guard. He'd probably need to treat his burns with something, but other than that he'd be fine.

Natsu was snapped out of his self medical exam when he heard Jellal say something from inside the cave, and braced himself for another attack, only to be surprised when Jellal rocketed past him and flew off into the forest, leaving Natsu in the dust, with a surprised expression on his face, only for the two cats, Wendy and Elfman to all fly out seconds afterwards, causing Natsu to raise an eyebrow. Guess Titania is going to live after all, good, that'll be a fun fight for me. Natsu thought as he watched the two cats soar off into the distance with their passengers. Giving himself another once over, Natsu decided that he was pretty much fine, aside from the small burns he got from Jellal's attack, and he still had plenty of energy to kick the blue haired mage's ass into next week.

Natsu raised an eyebrow as he heard Brain stumble to his feet in the cave, before beginning to mumble to himself like a madman.

Geez, everyone's getting up at once, Natsu thought as Brain began to ramble. Natsu tuned him out because he was pretty sure it was just nonsense, then Brain started yelling.

"Does he intend to hoard Nirvana's power all to himself?" Brain shouted before quickly turning to Natsu to scold him. "Natsu! How could you let him go, our mission may be jeopardized because of his escape!" Brain yelled at the Dragon Slayer, who rolled his eyes.

"The dude activated some sort of spell and rocketed past me before I could stop him." Natsu calmly explained.

"Natsu! Hunt him down at once, we cannot afford to let him hoard all of Nirvana's power for himself, it should be for all of us!" Brain commanded, earning a shrug from the Dragon Slayer.

"You sure you don't want Cobra to do the tracking? He probably already knows where Jellal is anyways with his sound magic and all." Natsu said with a raised eyebrow, finding the obvious hole in Brain's logic.

"Yes, but you have the tracking senses of a Dragon Slayer, after him quickly."

"So does he."

"Stop arguing with my orders!"  
"You're just trying to get rid of me aren't you?"

"Natsu!" Brain yelled.

"Fine!" Natsu said, exasperated. "I'll track the crazy blue haired idiot." Was all Natsu said before he chanted out another spell " **Apocalypse Dragon's Flight,** " Natsu muttered as his whole body began to glow the same color of his magic and Natsu launched to the sky, flying off into the same direction that Jellal disappeared into.

"Wendy!" Lucy said as she shook the little girl. "Wake up!" Lucy continued to shake the little girl until she got a small squeak of protest and the little girl tiredly opened up her eyes to see Hibiki, Lucy, Elfman, Happy and Carla all crowded around her, before she jumped back as memories of what she did flooded her mind and she began apologizing at a mile a minute again for her revival of Jellal.

"Wendy!" Hibiki interrupted her. "We don't care about whatever you're apologizing for at the moment, we need you to help us save Erza's life!" He insisted, snapping the scared little girl out of her stream of apologies.

"She's hurt?" Wendy asked timidly, before looking over to Erza and seeing that she was indeed hurt.

Erza was a deathly pale with very shaky breathing, as if each breath hurt to take. Fortunately, she was unconscious so she couldn't feel any pain from what appeared to be venom that was spreading up and down her arm and drawing dangerously near to her heart.

"We need Erza to help us fight the Oración Seis, we don't stand a chance without her, so please help us," Hibiki explained to the small girl.

"Please Wendy! We need her more than ever!" Lucy exclaimed as she fell to her knees.

There wasn't even half a second of hesitation in Wendy's answer, even though it was a tad shaky. "A-alright! I'll try to save- no, I will save her!" Wendy exclaimed before walking over to Erza and placing her hands on Erza's chest and stomach, as they began to glow the same soft blue as before and she began to heal the Titania.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, Wendy's hands glowed blue and Erza was still breathing shakily, but after a few seconds, Wendy's look of concentration deepened as her hands began to glow brighter and immediately Erza began to look better.

Hibiki, Elfman and Lucy watched on in amazement as the venom seemed to simply vanish from Erza's body, the haunting purple lines on her arms disappearing from existence and her breathing returning to a steady rate while her skin regained a healthy color. The three mages were floored. In one single spell, the little girl retrieved Erza from death's door.

Erza seemed to give a content sigh as she seemed to sleep more peacefully now, causing all of the mages present to let out a sigh of relief knowing that one of their strongest members would live to fight another day.

"Well… now what?" Lucy asked as she looked at the sleeping figure of Erza.

"We just have to wait for her to wake up." Wendy answered, wiping the small amount of sweat from her forehead that had formed there during her healing spell.

"Wake up!?" Lucy yelled, completely flabbergasted.

"Well yeah." Wendy said, confused as to why she was being yelled at. "I removed the venom from her body and stopped her fever, but I can't make her wake up, she needs her rest, but as soon as she wakes up she should be good to go."

Hibiki chuckled at the confused look on Wendy's face and the flabbergasted look on Lucy's. "I don't think Lucy knew that Wendy." Hibiki said "But I think we all need to thank you for saving Erza's life, you've done us all a great favor today."

"You're welcome!" Wendy beamed, smiling brightly, happy that she could help someone in need. The smile that quickly faded as she remembered what she did.

"Wendy?" Lucy asked, slightly concerned that the girl's expression had gone from happy to depressed so quickly. "What's wrong."

Everyone present flinched at the small sob that came from the girl. "I-I helped the Oración Seis, I revived Jellal." Wendy cried, tears working their way down her cheeks again.

The effects of the little girl's statement were immediate. Lucy froze completely, remembering the Tower of Heaven and how Erza nearly died before Gray saved her, and how Jellal was responsible for years of pain on numerous people. Hibiki stiffened at the name Jellal, the man who infiltrated the magic council and tricked them into firing etherion in order to make a giant lacrima. Elfman cracked his knuckles at the thought of a good fight with Jellal, but accidentally terrified Wendy in the process.

"What?!" Lucy cried, "Why on earth would you do that?!" She demanded, shaking the little girl and causing her to cry harder before Hibiki pulled Lucy off of her, frowning at the blonde.

"Wendy, while I'm not happy that you revived one of the most wanted criminals in all of Fiore, we still need to worry about the Oración Seis as well, and I'm positive that we can put all seven of these people behind bars okay?" Hibiki said, trying to calm down the sobbing little girl, and seemed to succeed as her sobs diminished into soft sniffles

"O-ok." Wendy mumbled, her eyes still red from crying

"Let's go! Beating up people who make little girls revive people who make that same little girl cry is manly!" Elfman cried out, flexing as he started to run off into the forest before Lucy stopped him with one sentence.

"You don't even know where you're going." Lucy sweatdropped at Elfman's overeagerness to fight the Oración Seis. Elfman stopped dead in his tracks as that, scratching his head as he honestly had no idea how to get back to the Oración Seis' hideout.

"Well I know where they are, I just don't know how to get there." He mumbled to himself.

Hibiki opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as a massive pillar of white light erupted off to their left, sending a pillar of white light with streaks of black spiraling around it into the sky, dumbfounding all of those present and awake. Almost 10 seconds later, a flash of blue erupted as well, and a flash of gold soon after, and what appeared to be the blue and gold flashes fighting.

"Well…" Hibiki trailed off. "I think we found them."

* * *

And there's chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to let me know what you thought. Also, remember, there's a poll asking who you think Natsu should be paired with because I'm too lazy to decide. Choose who you want.

Thanks for reading, see ya later!

-Solo


	3. Battle of Nirvana

**Ok, fair warning, MAJOR spoilers about Natsu and Zeref later in this chapter.**

To anyone present, it was clear that they should get out of the area. Immediately. Natsu and Jellal stared down one another, one's face filled with confusion and the other with a twisted grin on his face as he thought about the upcoming fight.

They both stood on a thin stone bridge that led to the pillar of light that was shooting up from behind Jellal, who stood in front of it almost protectively. The abyss below the stone bridge they stood on was filled with an ominous fog, and visibility was at a low. Overhead, the sunlight was blocked out by the thick, dark foliage, and the few gaps had thick spider webs in them, absorbing the sunlight, and giving the little light that shined through a gloomy gray color, with the main light source for the area being the pillar of light that Jellal stood in front of, almost protectively. As if that was Natsu was actually after.

"Sup Jelly boy," Natsu said as he waved to the blue haired mage, who seemed to be confused on how Natsu had found him so quickly, but he said nothing to the pinkette, causing Natsu to raise an eyebrow. "You don't talk much do you?"

"Why did you follow me Natsu?" The first words in an actual conversation between the two. Jellal's voice was filled with suspicion and distrust towards the rosy haired dragon slayer, who rolled his eyes at Jellal.

"So you did hear my name. Well, Brain ordered me to follow you, something about stopping you from using Nirvana for yourself." Natsu said, boredom clear in his voice.

'But you and I both know that wasn't the reason, why did you follow me?" Jellal asked again, clearly seeing Natsu's disinterest in his assigned mission.

This caused a wolfish grin to appear on Natsu's face as he cracked his knuckles, the cracking noise echoing throughout the forest. "The reason I followed you is quite simple, our fight from before isn't finished yet." Natsu said, eager to get to the fist fight.

Jellal raised eyebrow in response. "The fight is finished. You engaged me and I momentarily disabled you, allowing me to escape." He stated, confused as why Natsu wanted to fight him so badly

The wolfish grin seemed to grow wider. "Keyword, momentarily. I'm still standing, and so are you, this fight ain't over yet." Natsu stated to Jellal. "This fight ends when one of us is unable to battle for an extended period of time. You win, I leave and tell Brain I couldn't find you and you can do whatever to Nirvana, I win, you leave give me that cloak you found, deal?"

Jellal stared at Natsu with wide eyes. "You'd risk Nirvana, the very object your guild is searching for, for the coat I found?" Jellal said, not believing what Natsu was saying.

"I don't give a rat's ass what happens to Nirvana, the Oración Seis has had it out for me since day one, they follow Brain blindly, and since I'm the only one who challenges his authority, I'm seen as a loose cannon, a threat to their precious plans. That's why Brain sent me after you, I'm expendable, so I figured I'd at least get a good fight out of it, and I win either way." Natsu flippantly responded.

Jellal's raised eyebrows made no attempt of lowering. "How do you win either way?"

"Brain sent me on some sort of Suicide Mission, so either way I win, if I win the fight, I win because I get to surprise Brain, and if I lose, you get to do whatever you want to Nirvana and Brain's plans blow up in his face, either way I win. But, enough talking, let's fight!" Natsu responded before lunging at Jellal and landing a punch square in the head, finally lowering his eyebrows and sending him flying back onto the cold, rocky bridge they stood on.

The blue haired mage quickly got to his feet and retaliated. " **Meteor!** " Jellal shouted as his body was covered in a golden glow, and then launched himself at Natsu at a high speed, slamming into him and returning the favor by launching Natsu back several feet, where he shakily landed on his feet and grinned as his fist began to glow blue and he took off towards Jellal, who shot right back at him, both hoping to land a punch.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu yelled as he dodged the speeding Jellal and quickly planted his energy covered fist into Jellal's back, forcing him into the ground below Natsu, who planted a devastating kick to Jellal's head, sending him rolling to the side. Natsu, not letting up, capitalized on the downed Jellal. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu yelled out as his feet were covered in the blue energy and yet another foot made contact with Jellal's head, sending the blue haired mage right off the bridge.

" **Meteor!** " Jellal called out again as he rocketed back up onto the stone bridge and bear tackled Natsu, knocking him off balance before taking a step back and shouting out another spell. " **Heavenly Ray!** " which blasted Natsu back with a ray of light and sent the Dragon Slayer tumbling off the bridge, grabbing onto the ledge before he fell off the platform, and quickly hoisted himself up onto the bridge in a crouching position. Only to receive a foot to the throat, which made Natsu gasp for breath as he fell to his hands and knees, and for Jellal to blast Natsu back with another ray of light, sending Natsu tumbling, with smoke curling off of his body.

As Natsu struggled to regain his breath, Jellal leisurely walked his way over, only to receive a surprise uppercut from Natsu, his fists once again glowing the harsh blue, sending Jellal tumbling back a few feet, which was all that Natsu, slightly gasping for air, needed to quickly pull his sword off of his back before rushing at Jellal again.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Piercing Blade!** " Natsu yelled as he katana became surrounded in the same blue light as his hands and feet did, before slashing at Jellal, who had to take step back to avoid the glowing blade, only for Natsu to take another quick swipe which left a shallow cut across Jellal's torso, not deep, but deep enough to draw a small amount of blood and to shock the blue haired mage into backpedaling, which allowed Natsu to fully regain his normal breathing pattern.

Jellal knew he was in a bad situation. He and Natsu seemed to be fighting on relatively equal ground, with Jellal having the slight advantage, but with the sword thrown into the play, Natsu had a large advantage over Jellal, because he could react just as fast as him and clearly knew how to handle his katana efficiently. How could he turn this in his favor?  
Jellal didn't even have time to think about it before Natsu came at him like a lightning bolt, expertly slashing and stabbing at Jellal, each slash barely missing the removal of a limb, but still leaving a shallow cut which drew blood, so when Natsu finally relented, Jellal looked like he had been through a whirlwind. Small, non-lethal cuts were all over his hands and face, and on some parts of his torso. Two large cuts that would need medical attention on his face and left pectoral and when the pain finally kicked in, Jellal realized two things something.

One, not only was Natsu far more powerful since he had a sword, he had begun playing with Jellal.

And two, there was not a single damn cut on the coat.

However, the first thing seemed to register in Jellal's mind and he remembered one single thing. He did not like being played with. Jellal's eyes darkened as he glared at Natsu before shouting a spell. " **Heavenly Ray!** " Jellal yelled, firing the laser of light at Natsu, who sidestepped to dodge, only to have another fired at him immediately afterwards, and another after that, and another after that.

Jellal had wasted no time in pushing Natsu back onto the defensive, but he still needed a change in tactics. " **Grand Chariot!** " Jellal yelled, his hands raised to the sky as a magic seal appeared over them, and he brought his hands down in an axe like fashion, and the effect of the spell was instantaneous.

Dozens of rays of light launched themselves at Natsu, who had to run and leap towards Jellal in hopes of dodging them, with the ground beneath his feet becoming shakier due to the rays removing chunks of the bridge as each one passed through it. Sprinting towards Jellal, Natsu weaved through the beams with grace until Jellal fired a ray of light directly at Natsu, forcing him to sidestep, right into one of the beams from the Grand Chariot.

Natsu was blown off of his feet from the beam, and launched right into another, which sent him flying into the ground, where a third beam landed directly in front of him, causing Natsu to be blown backwards from the shock wave, where he rolled backwards onto the cold stone bridge, struggling to stand up. Jellal had regained a calm look in his eyes and frowned at the struggling to stand dragon slayer. Jellal had used quite a bit of energy with his Grand Chariot and alongside firing Heavenly Rays and was therefore panting with sweat dripping down his forehead. The Dragon Slayer didn't go down as easily as the other two did.

Natsu groaned as he forced himself to his feet and staggered toward Jellal, a dark look in his eyes, which made Jellal take a step back before firing off his next spell.

" **Heavenly Ray!** " Jellal yelled as he launched another beam at the Dragon Slayer, who growled in response.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Guard.** " Natsu growled as his energy manifested into a large gladiator style shield on Natsu's arm which he quickly brought up to block the beam of light. The shield seemed to absorb the light before dissipating off Natsu's arm, and Natsu was still advancing on Jellal.

" **Meteor!** " Jellal cried as his body was covered in a golden light and he launched himself at Natsu., who narrowed his eyes at the fast approaching Jellal, and shouted out a spell at the same time as Jellal.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Piercing Blade!** "

" **Heavenly Ray!** "

When the two attacks met, it was a sort of baseball like effect as Natsu's energy covered blade swatted the beam of light away, sending it over Jellal's head and into the beam of Nirvana's light.

" **Grand Chariot!** " Jellal yelled out again, and with a much shorter distance between Natsu and Jellal, the effects were much more successful. The spell launched twelve rays of light at Natsu, the first two were swatted aside by the energy covered katana, the other ten hit their mark.

Natsu was blown off of his feet completely by the rays of light, sending him flying back on the bridge , where he landed on his stomach and skidded a fair distance before Natsu tiredly dug his katana into the bridge to prevent him from sliding back further, and rolled onto his back in exhaustion.

Jellal let out a gasp of breath after the Grand Chariot dissipated. Using a constant stream of Heavenly Rays and two Grand Chariots took quite a toll on his magic, and he was running low, but it looked like he finally knocked the dragonslayer on his ass for good.

The dark chuckling of the dragon slayer drew Jellal's attention, which led him to see Natsu leaning heavily on his katana as he stood up. Natsu had obviously seen better days, he had burns on his arms and face from the rays of light, and his shirt was practically nonexistent the few burnt scraps that remained fell of as Natsu stood up, and his ankle seemed to be at least sprained from when he was slammed into the ground by the Grand Chariot and a few sections of pink hair had been darkened to black by the burns from the light.

Yet he was smiling.

Natsu, who looked like he had just gone several brutal boxing rounds with a body builder, had a busted lip with blood leaking into his mouth, was smiling.

"You put up a good fight Jellal, I knew this would be a good fight, but, I'm gonna end this now." Natsu said, causing Jellal to raise an eyebrow, how would he end this fight? He barely had the energy to stand.

Jellal's question was answered when Natsu began to glow blue. Not just his fists or feet, but his entire body began to glow blue, and his magic pressure became so thick one could cut it with a knife, and after about 3 seconds of building up energy, Natsu said one spell.

" **Apocalypse Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Armageddon!** " Natsu shouted as in one supernova like burst, all of the energy he had built up was released like a shock wave, flattening the trees in the surrounding area and sending Jellal flying backwards, his entire body now littered with cuts and abrasions, some serious and some not so from the explosion that happened in front of him. Jellal landed roughly on the remainders of the stone bridge and rolled until he eventually came to a stop when he rolled back onto the cliff next to the chasm that contained Nirvana.

Jellal felt like he had just been run over by a truck, all of his muscles were screaming in pain and he forced his eyes open to see that Natsu wasn't in much better condition. Natsu's physical appearance was no worse than before, but it was obvious it was taking all of his will to stay awake at the moment. He had drained almost all of his magic power in releasing that attack on Jellal, leaving the match to end in somewhat of a tie.

There was a long period of silence, where Natsu and Jellal both sat there trying to tune out the aches of their wounds and tried to catch their breath while still staying awake. Eventually, Natsu broke the silence.

"Well… who won?" Came the tired voice of Natsu, who sounded even more exhausted then Jellal thought he would, which shouldn't have been possible.

Jellal let out a small sigh at the question. "I would call it a tie, as you and I are both in no condition to fight at the moment. There was no plan for a tie."

Natsu shrugged. "Then we talk."

That got Jellal's attention. "Why?"

"I dunno, you seemed like a decent guy before we tried to kill each other, and we aren't moving for a while so we may as well get to know each other." Natsu shrugged.  
"Why are you so willing to get to know your enemy. For all you know I could be working for the white haired man you were planning to attack." Jellal questioned.

"Yup, you're definitely working with him, obviously. No I'd say we're more or less on the same side here." Natsu answered, gaining a very confused look from Jellal before continuing. "You want to destroy Nirvana, but don't want to work with the Allied Forces on it, so I'd say that makes you neutral. The Oración Seis wants to use Nirvana to tear the world apart, but I'm only here so I can find my father, and I have no intentions to destroy the world, so I'd say that probably makes me neutral as well. In the end, we're pretty much on the same side."

Jellal paused to think about what Natsu said before speaking. "Why are you willing to work with a dark guild in order to find your father."  
Natsu's face darkened when he heard the question. "He took me in when I was a baby, so I spent the first 13 years of my life with him, but he disappeared 5 years ago. Call me a daddy's boy but I just want to see my father again." Natsu explained to Jellal.

For a while, Jellal didn't say anything. He seemed to be pondering what Natsu had said, but his next question caught Natsu a little off guard. "Do you have any other family."  
Besides being briefly shocked, a bitter smile made it's way onto Natsu's face. "A couple years back I learned I had a brother who's been dead for a long time." Natsu said, the bitter smile never leaving as Natsu forced himself to sit up so he could look over his injuries. Nothing that bad, a couple burns from Jellal's rays of light, and a couple scrapes from when he was tossed around by the Grand Chariot, but other than that, he was just drained.

"I'm sorry for that." Jellal said, showing the first bit of being a good person since meeting Natsu, and not just a robot who wants to destroy Nirvana, but Natsu shrugged the apology off.

"The world's a better place with him gone anyways. He seemed to be a bit of a bad guy if what I learned was accurate." Natsu said, shrugging as he patted his chest down to check for broken ribs, and was relieved when he found none. "What about you Jelly boy, you got any family from that Tower of yours?" Natsu asked, only to be met with dead silence.

Jellal opened his mouth to respond, but instead went dead silent, he seemed to be in deep thought, almost like he was searching for something in his mind before he finally stuttered out a phrase. "I-I don't know."

That gained Natsu's interest. "You don't know, didja hit your head during our fight?"

"No, I remember the fight, but… I don't remember anything!" Jellal cried, grabbing his hair and tugging on it, making him look more like an afraid child than the being of immense power that he was supposed to be.

"Nothing huh… probably something to do with, ya know, pretty much being dead." Natsu stated as he looked at the shaking Jellal, who looked close to tears at the sudden revelation of no memories.

"I don't know who I am! All I know is that what the Oración Seis wants to do with Nirvana needs to be stopped and the name Erza. I don't know what to do or who to trust" Jellal cried out, his hands covering his eyes as Natsu sighed beside him.

"As much as that sucks, crying ain't going to help anything. I'm sure you'll get your memories back when the side effects of being dead wear off." Natsu shrugged as he attempted to force himself to his feet, only to fall over before he could balance himself. "Wow I really am stuck here." Natsu muttered to himself. The blue haired mage said nothing, and still had his head in his hands, as if he was a terrified child.

Natsu sighed in slight agitation at the sight. He understood that not remembering anything must really suck for him, but it's not like he was going to remember anything by sitting there and crying like a baby. "Jellal, man the hell up before I beat some sense into you." Natsu stated.

That got Jellal's attention. "Unless I'm mistaken, we just tied, so you can't beat anything into me, and you can't even stand." Jellal snapped back, causing Natsu to smile slightly. _Good, I got him to stop moping for the moment._

"Nah, I went easy on you. Didn't want to kill you by accident." Natsu chuckled, peeving off Jellal more at the jab.

"Is that why you're still on the ground?" Jellal jabbed back, causing Natsu to chuckle, this time a little darker.

"Oh please, I can get up any time I want to." Natsu said, bluffing even more at Jellal.

"I'm sure you can." Jellal said with roll of his eyes.

"Yup, watch me." Natsu said as he forced himself upright, leaning heavily on his sword for support, but in the end he was still technically standing.

"Well… I guess I was wrong. You can stand, but only because you have your little sword there. You gonna kill me now?" Jellal asked, causing Natsu to roll his eyes.

"We tied, so I don't have to do anything, and I'm not entirely fond of killing people so no." Natsu said as he took a shaky step.

"So you're just going to leave me here?" Jellal asked, a small amount of the childish fear making it's way back into his voice

"I look like I walked through hell, lemme catch my breath before I drag your heavy ass up." Natsu panted, the tip of his katana digging into the bridge and the blade quivering from all the weight put onto happened next, happened so fast Erza herself wasn't quite sure what had happened.

"So you didn't go as easy on me as you thought?" Jellal asked, the small fear quickly disappearing and being replaced with the satisfaction of seeing Natsu get his buttons pushed.

"Keep that attitude up and I will put you in the ground." Natsu said with a small smile on his face as he made his way over to help up Jellal.

Erza raced through the trees towards where the bright light was coming from, knowing that she'd find Jellal there. It didn't make any sense to Erza. He should be dead. He was still on the Tower of Heaven when it exploded, so how was he still alive? There was no way he escaped, Erza and Gray had knocked him out cold so Jellal should be six feet under, but she was positive that Elfman, Hibiki and Lucy were talking about Jellal when she had woken up being completely healed. It was also why she had taken off without a word, if her childhood friend was here, then something was going to go horribly wrong.

Anyone who stood in the Titania's way stood no chance, they were brutally swatted aside as Erza continued to race towards the light of Nirvana, where the flashes of blue and gold had stopped, letting Erza know that the fight taking place there had ended, and she saw a giant flash of blue last, making her fear for the worst about Jellal.

Erza briefly felt guilty about bolting the second that she could move, and leaving Lucy, Hibiki and Elfman behind, but she knew that she was the only one who could either attempt to reason with Jellal or fight him on fair ground. But they could have helped her in the fight, and could also have gotten hurt in the process. Torn on the decision, Erza simply forced her mind to believe that her actions had been for the protection of her friends.

Eventually making her way to where the light was originating from, Erza was faced with a sight she didn't want to see at all. The Salamander stood victorious as Jellal was lying down on the ground, and Erza caught once sentence.

"I will put you in the ground." Salamander said as he slowly walked towards Jellal, who made no effort to get out of the way.

Erza quickly drew her sword and raced as Salamander, who paid her no mind as he kept walking towards Jellal, but when she got in Jellal's vision, his eyes widened and he yelled to, what she assumed was to her, "Look out!". Only for Erza to stab at Salamander, and for him to quickly turn around to face Erza.

What happened next, happened so fast Erza herself wasn't quite sure what had happened at first, but she was horrified.

Erza drove her sword straight into the Salamander's stomach.

Erza watched as his eyes widened and filled with pain as he coughed up blood onto the blade and Erza quickly backpedaled, removing her sword from Salamander's stomach, horrified of what she had done. She never wounded someone this badly.

The world seemed to go in slow motion for Erza. The Salamander tried to take a shaky step, his hands covering the gaping wound in his stomach, blood still dribbling out of his mouth. He attempted to say something, but blood bubbled up in his mouth making him gag and spill more blood onto the bridge. The pink haired mage stumbled backwards before swaying dangerously to his left and losing his footing. The Salamander slipped and fell to his left, his left hand grabbing for the smooth surface of the bridge, his right still firmly on the wound, before he went over the edge and plummeted into the fog below, leaving only a blood stain on the bridge where he had stood only seconds before.

There was a deathly silence before Erza threw up at what she had just done. She had gone pale at her actions. She had just killed someone. He was a dark mage, but he still had a life, which she unfairly extinguished. A Fairy Tail mage was never supposed to kill anyone. It was one of the unspoken rules that she had just broken.

"You killed him…" Jellal whispered. "He was coming over to help me up… and you killed him."

That made Erza feel even sicker to her stomach. "H-he said he was going to put you in the ground!" She desperately defended herself. Jellal only sadly shook his head.

"He wasn't going to kill me. He said he didn't want to. He only wanted to find his father…" Jellal mumbled incoherently, each sentence making Erza feel worse. Didn't want to kill Jellal and wanted to find his father?

Erza staggered as she dropped her blood stained sword, which clanged on the bridge before following the Salamander into the abyss in which he fell.

"Goodbye… Natsu." Jellal whispered.

Natsu's vision began to blacken as the world raced around him. He was never fond of falling from great heights, which seemed only fitting as that for way to be the way for him to die. That and the stab wound in his stomach were both on Natsu's mind as he raced towards the bottom of the canyon. Natsu let a small smile work it's way onto his face as one comforting thought made it's way into his mind.

 _At least I can be with you now, my brother… Zeref._

And with that Natsu was launched into a memory.

 _6 year old Natsu was sitting in a cave with a massive Black Dragon lying down next to him. The Black Dragon was clearly resting, Natsu not so much._

" _Acnologia… do I have any siblings?" Natsu asked the Black Dragon, who turned it's head to look at the little boy._

" _ **Why do you ask, Natsu?**_ " _Acnologia rumbled, his voice a deep baritone that always reminded Natsu of thunder._

" _You told me about the other Dragon Slayers who you lived with before you came a Dragon, and how they were like brothers to you, and I wondered if I had any siblings." Natsu asked, bringing up something Acnologia knew he was going to regret when he told Natsu._

 _The Black Dragon sighed. The small child in front of him was always curious about the world, but Acnologia was unsure of what the right thing to do in this situation. He could never bring himself to lie to his surrogate son, not after all he had been through for him. But could he tell him that he was the little brother of the darkest mage in all of history? Acnologia growled at himself for the thought. He was going far too soft on the boy for his liking._

 _Deciding to bite the bullet, Acnologia spoke. "_ _ **Yes Natsu, you have a brother.**_ " _Natsu's face lit up in excitement at the prospect, but quickly fell at the next words from Acnologia. "_ _ **But he has been dead for quite some time now… he was the reason I decided to take you as my student. Your brother's name was Zeref.**_ " _Acnologia spoke, as he noticed Natsu's downcast face at the revelation that his...very newfound… brother was dead. "_ _ **Natsu, steel yourself. I do not tolerate sadness. Your brother was not the best person, the world is a better place with him gone.**_ " _Acnologia briefly snapped at Natsu, making the small child nod his head at the Black Dragon before hopping up and doing a little dance before exclaiming that he wanted to start training again, causing the Black Dragon to chuckle a little._

"Acnologia," Natsu whispered as he pulled himself back from his memories. "Why did you leave?" Was all Natsu said as he plummeted to the bottom of the abyss.

* * *

 _Tada! There's chapter 3, and I did warn you about spoilers to the actual canon, can't get mad at me there. Sorry for the wait by the way, I was gone for like a week and a half and had to rewrite the fight scene several times to get it the way I liked it, but that's not important. Lemme know what you thought and I'll see you next time!_

 _~Solo_


	4. Now in Debt

Erza stood deathly still, still mortified that she had just ruthlessly killed someone, the only remains of him being the small bloodstain on the bridge, which was now littered with craters from Natsu and Jellal's fight. The deathly silence between the two was only broken by the arrival of another two mages.

"Well, well, would you look at that, the lowly maggots are swarming together again." Brain announced as he walked across the bridge, Cobra right behind him with his devilish smirk on his face.

"I suppose that I do need to thank you for taking care of that loose cannon Titania." Brain said as he blankly stared at the small puddle of blood. "It was only a matter of time before we would have had to get rid of him anyways." Brain shrugged as he looked at the two in front of him, one of which was staring at Brain with anger building in her face, the other was still staring at the puddle of blood.

"Y-you are the worst! One of your guild mates has died and yet you move on like nothing happened at all! No wonder we were sent to remove you from the world!" Erza yelled at Brain, attempting to seem strong, but her facade was transparent, as everyone present could tell that she was still badly shaken from killing the Salamander.

Cobra only shrugged at the accusations before smirking. "There isn't room for two dragons in the sky." Cobra said with a devilish smirk as Erza summoned another sword and pointed at them.

Brain tsked before looking at the red haired dark mage next to him. "Behave Cobra."

Cobra rolled his eyes at Brain, "You know he was asking for it."

"What does that even mean?!" Erza interupted, pointing her sword at Cobra who still held the devilish smirk on his face.

"You don't need to know." Was all Cobra said before Brain interrupted.

"Cobra, gather yourself, we are here to claim Nirvana." Brain ordered to Cobra who rolled his eyes and snorted.

"I-I will take you both on!" Erza proclaimed as Brain gave her a bored look. "Cobra, subdue Jellal, I will deal with the Titania." Brain ordered as he fired a green blast at Erza, who sidestepped just in time to be blasted by another green blast from Brain, who calmly walked over and cracked his staff on her head, rendering her unconscious, while Cobra merely walked over to the injured Jellal and chopped him in his neck, sending Jellal into unconsciousness as well.

"All too easy." Cobra said as he walked back over to Brain whose frown didn't leave his face. "Jellal was already injured and the Titania was in shock, if they were at full capacity, this would have been much more difficult." Brain said as he walked over to the glowing pillar at the end of the bridge. "Now, let's activate Nirvana shall we?" Brain said as he looked to Cobra whose grin never left his face.

"I'd say it's about time we did."

* * *

Natsu let his eyes close as the wind rushed past him as he neared the end of his plummet. The world had gone dark around him and Natsu had no idea how long he had been falling. He knew that the wound in his stomach had somehow missed all of his vital organs, but was still deep and would scar, assuming that he survived this.

The Dragon Slayer made out something through his half closed eyes as he looked down towards the ground and saw the ground to be fast approaching, and Natsu merely closed his eyes and awaited for the pain to arrive, and then to leave just as quickly.

What Natsu didn't expect was to land roughly in a body of water.

The landing wasn't easy on Natsu, as he felt at least two ribs crack from the impact on the water's surface, but he tightened his weak grip on his katana to prevent it from falling from his hands, after it miraculously stayed in his grip for the entire freefall. But Natsu's eyes shot open at the new revelation that he wasn't a pancake and a grim determination filled his battered body.

The water wasn't pleasant either, cold and harsh from the lack of sunlight, the river Natsu landed roughly pushed Natsu downstream, which seemed alright to Natsu for the time being. Then Natsu rammed into the first rock.

Letting out a grunt of surprise, a small amount of precious oxygen left Natsu's lungs as the blunt impact from the rock bruised Natsu's side and undoubtedly broke another rib or two from the impact alone, leaving Natsu in more pain than before as yellow spots danced across his blurry vision while he continued down the rapids.

The second rock wasn't any kinder, slamming into Natsu's leg, leaving a large bruise on both the muscle and bone of the leg, and also forcing more air out of the Dragon Slayer's lungs as he spun around in the unforgiving current and continued downstream.

What little breath Natsu had left in his body was quickly leaving, however, and Natsu wondered if he was going to drown. It would be somewhat ironic to him, what had saved him from his fall would end up killing him anyways, and the rocks were certainly helping with his painful way of meeting his maker.

The third rock hurt Natsu just as much as it saved him.

Having somehow pointed his katana in front of him, Natsu rammed into the third rock like a javelin, the katana digging deep into the stone as it dug up and out of the water, creating a handhold for Natsu to hold onto in the rapids. But the sudden stop shot immediate pain through Natsu's arm, who immediately knew that his shoulder was dislocated, but he could worry about that later, by some miracle, his head was above the surface on the large rock as he painfully clung to his sword for dear life.

Natsu blearily swung his other arm up, grabbing the top of the rock and, with great effort, pulling his exhausted body onto the horizontal-ish figure of the rock, resting with his knees still in the rapids, and his breath rapid.

The Dragon Slayer's entire body screamed in pain as he lay there, gasping for breath, and barely alive, but still alive.

 _Ok_ , Natsu tiredly thought. _Assuming I survive this, I am never going swimming again._

Placing his hand back on his stomach, Natsu groaned in pain as the stab wound's pain flared up again now that he had nothing bigger to worry about, and Natsu began to fight for his consciousness.

 _I did not just survive a rafting ride from hell to black out because of a freaking stab wound._ Natsu growled at himself as he dug through his entire body, looking for any remnants of magical power left for him to get out of the canyon. Groaning in pain as he charged up his flight spell, Natsu tried to force out the spell.

" **Apocalype Drag-** agh." Natsu groaned as he spat blood onto the rock he was lying on, his magical container screaming in protest as he was almost completely empty, with not even enough magic to summon a ball of energy to his hand.

 _God dammit, I bet Acnologia is laughing at me right now for being unable to summon a simple spell._ Natsu thought angrily. With the picture of the Black Dragon taunting him, Natsu tried again.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Fl-** ack!" Was as far as Natsu got before the build up blood and vomit in his mouth forced it's way out onto the rock besides him as Natsu hurled in defeat, before rolling onto his back in defeat, deciding to wait for his end.

 _So this is how I go, huh?_ _In the dark, bleeding out on a rock in the middle of some god damned river because I'm too tired to move? Thought my death would have a bit more class. Maybe going down against a legion of rune knights._ Natsu thought bitterly. _Here lies the Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse, defeated by a damn river. That old lizard is having a good laugh right now._

Natsu snapped at that little statement of his. He had been tossed around, stabbed, fell from god know's how high and nearly drowned but he was somehow still alive, and he was not going to die lying on a rock in the middle of a river.

Natsu growled as he built up the scraps of his magic once again and ignored the blinding pain that he was experiencing as he growled out the spell. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Flight!** " Natsu grunted out as his body shot up into the air, covered by a faint blue glow as Natsu rocketed upwards, the blinding pain only building as he climbed towards the small light coming from above.

The way up seemed way quicker than the way down. Maybe it was because Natsu wasn't waiting for his death to arrive, but it seemed to Natsu like he was back up, out of the canyon, just barely above the trees in maybe a minute or two, before his magic fully ran out and he began to plummet towards the ground once again, this time with no river to cushion the fall.

 _Shit_. Was all Natsu thought as his body fell a good 30 feet to the ground before crashing into the soft dirt, creating a crater where Natsu's consciousness finally left him.

* * *

Lucy let out a sight as she sank to the ground. Her fight with Angel had taken up all of her energy, so she was basically useless for a good while, until she could use her magic again.

Elfman, regaining consciousness after Gemini had knocked him out. Groggily stood up, before shaking his head to clear his vision of the blurriness. When cleared, the brash Strauss sibling raced off into the forest, claiming he had to regain his manliness, causing Hibiki and Lucy to both sigh, before they heard Elfman trip and crash into the ground.

Wendy poked her head out from the rock she was hiding from Angel behind, and saw Elfman trip, so she stood up and began to walk over to Elfman.

"Wendy, where are you going?" Hibiki tiredly asked the little bluenette who smiled at Hibiki.

"I'm just making sure that Elfman's okay, it looked like a nasty trip he had." Wendy responded as she made her way over to where Elfman fell, and let out a shriek at what she saw.

Lucy and Hibiki were up in an instant, ignoring their fatigue and racing over to Wendy in hopes of helping her fend off whatever was near her.

What Lucy did not expect to see was the near dead form of the Salamander lying there in the dirt. The pink haired dark mage had clearly seen better days, he was covered in burns and bruises, with several clear broken bones and ribs, a dislocated looking shoulder and a bleeding stab wound in his stomach as the unconscious form of the Salamander breathed irregularly on the ground. And yet, despite all of this, he still had a firm grip on the katana he had with him before.

Wendy covered her mouth in horror as tears were brought to her eyes at the sight of the man who was kind to her when she was taken hostage by the Oracion Seis. Sure she had been terrified of him, but he never spoke or acted ill towards her and had just asked about her dragon, before giving her more time to think over her choice about whether not to revive Jellal.

"What happened to him?!" Hibiki exclaimed.

"It looks like Erza tried to drown him." Lucy said, gesturing to the Salamander's soaking clothes and multiple wounds across his body.

"He's got a nasty wound on his stomach there," Hibiki pointed out as he reached out and wrestled the katana out of the Salamander's hand. "Several burns and minor cuts across his entire body and looks like he just lost a fight with a sea monster. I think Erza might have actually tried to drown him with her Sea Empress armor."

"Erza would never try to kill someone! That's not manly!" Elfman cried out while flexing.

"That depends," Hibiki interjected. "If the Salamander attacked Erza, she may have had no choice but to defend herself resulting in his injuries."

There was a small silence as Hibiki tiredly looked over all of the Salamander's injuries before speaking again. "There's little we can do, that wound on his stomach is going to have him bleed out and we can't get him to a hospital regardless, so the Salamander might end up kicking the bucket." Hibiki explained.

"I'll heal him." Wendy spoke up, causing everyone to look at her in shock.

"Absolutely not. He was one of the people who abducted you Wendy! Use that head of yours child!" Carla scolded Wendy who shook her head at the cat.

"No, no, he's actually a nice guy. He was really kind to me when the Oracion Seis was holding me prisoner, and he told me about his Dragon, and-" Wendy began to ramble before being cut off.

"His Dragon?!" Lucy cried out, before Wendy blushed at her forgetfulness.

"Oh yeah... he is a Dragon Slayer by the way, he says he was trained by the Acnologia dragon you were talking about earlier." Wendy said meekly, causing Lucy to shake in fear as Wendy let her hands glow the soft blue before placing them on the Salamander.

"Wendy! Stop this at once, he is a dangerous criminal, who knows what he might do!" Carla yelled at Wendy, who ignored her and continued to pump the soft blue light into the Salamander.

However, previous exhaustion and the severity of the Salamander's wounds didn't go as well for Wendy as she would have hoped. While the others watched in amazement as the stab wound in Natsu's stomach kneaded itself back together and a few of the cuts were healed before Wendy stumbled and nearly passed out from exhaustion, but happy she had saved yet another life today. However, the stab wound was not fully healed and his shoulder was still at an odd angle, but he was in no danger of dying.

Lucy scrambled over and caught Wendy before she could hit the ground, Wendy was nearly unconscious, but mainly just tired from her third healing of the day.

"Wendy!" Carla cried as the exceed rushed over. "You foolish child, you only healed an enemy, he will not hesitate to stab us in the back when we least expect it!"

"But he helped me." Wendy murmured drowsily. "He gave me more time to think about reviving Jellal. He's actually quite nice. His name's Natsu." Was what the almost incoherent Wendy muttered before gently passing out, exhausted from the day's events thus far.

"Well." Hibiki said as he looked at the unconscious figures of both Salamander, now known as Natsu to the group, and Wendy. "I guess we have to wait for them to wake up."

"You actually want the psychopath who tried to kill us to wake up?!" Lucy screeched at him, causing Hibiki to wince and rub his ears.

"Not in the slightest, but apparently he has some common sense and maybe he can tell us who he went up against in order to be in such poor shape." Hibiki calmly explained, causing Lucy to sigh.

"So we have to wait for a dark mage to wake up and give us answers?" Lucy asked.

"Looks that way." Was all Hibiki said as he briefly looked from Lucy to Wendy, who was peacefully sleeping in Lucy's arms, with Carla looking her with worry in her eyes.

"She'll be ok right?" Hibiki asked Carla, who nodded.

"Whenever she uses her magic like this she just needs to rest to regain her strength, what I am worried about is why she wanted to heal this Natsu fellow."

"Beats me, just ask the pink haired guy when he wak-." Lucy said before she was interrupted by a tired voice.

"It's salmon, not pink." Came the tired voice of Natsu who was staring longingly at the sky above him, yet still making Lucy shriek and jump a solid two feet into the air, which Natsu winced at the sound, but other than that made no remark about.

"How much did you hear?" Hibiki said, his eyes narrowing at Natsu who let out a small sigh.

"Enough to know I owe my life to Wendy, and that your blonde friend is apparently color blind." Natsu stated, his eyes never once leaving the sky.

A tick mark appeared on Lucy's head. "I am not color blind you-" Lucy shrieked before being cut off again, this time by Hibiki.

"Lucy, please be quiet." Hibiki said before looking at Natsu distrustfully. "Why were you nearly fatally injured?" He questioned, making Natus snort.

"Your redheaded friend I tried to help you save. She repaid me for my offer by stabbing me in the stomach and letting gravity decide my fate." Natsu said, disdain lacing his voice.

"Erza beat you in a fight?" Hibiki asked, sounding relatively surprised, and a little hopeful at the fact. Hope that was squashed when Natsu let out a dry chuckle.

"Oh no, she got nowhere near beating me in a fight. I had just gone toe to toe with Jellal and was going over to help him up when she cowardly stabbed me without any warning." Natsu spat bitterly.

"Doesn't explain why you were soaked." Hibiki said, causing Natsu to glance at him irritatingly.

"That was because when she pushed me off a god damned cliff I fell several hundred feet into a river where I was tossed around like a ragdoll until I blasted myself out of the river. You found me where I landed as the first human meteorite." Natsu snapped at Hibiki before sighing and closing his eyes.

Hibiki raised an eyebrow at Natsu. "You don't sound very thankful that we just saved your life." He said, causing a small chuckle from Natsu.

"You didn't save my life, Wendy did. I only need to be thankful to her." Natsu said, cracking an eye open to look at Hibiki. "I also don't need to be thankful to the people who are going to throw my ass in prison when I can't even fight back."

"Well what if we could help you with that?" Lucy piped up, causing Natsu to lazily shift his open eye to her, causing Lucy to not-so-inconceivably shiver. "What I'm saying is, you owe Wendy now, so if you help us stop your guild, then maybe we can get you out of prison?" Lucy said, her statement becoming more of a question by the end of it.

"I'm pretty sure that I just told you that I can't fight, and if you think that Brain'll ever listen to me, then light guilds are dumber than I thought." Natsu said before closing his eye again. "Wake me up when the little girl wakes up, I need to thank her for saving my life." Was all Natsu said before letting out a deep breath and letting himself drift into a peaceful sleep. He was out so quickly that all Hibiki could do was facepalm angrily.

"If he won't work with us, I'll beat some sense into him!" Elfman proclaimed angrily as he ran over to Natsu's prone body, despite Hibiki sprinting after him and Lucy yelling for him to stop, and kicked Natus in the stomach, right on the stab wound, causing Natsu's eyes to shoot open and to cry out in pain as he rolled over onto his side, clutching the now slightly bleeding wound as Elfman hoisted Natsu up and glared at him.

"Not helping those who saved your life is not manly!" Elfman cried as he raised his fist to strike Natsu in the face, only for Natsu to angrily spit blood in Elfman's face, causing Elfman to cry out in surprise and drop Natsu, who steadied himself before planting his foot right in between Elfman's legs, dropping the take-over mage like a sack of bricks. Natsu sighed at the fallen take-over before turning his murderous glare to the other light mages (minus Wendy and Carla) present, who were wide eyed at the scene that had just played out before them.

"Try something like that again, and I will not hesitate to end all of your lives. I don't care if I owe Wendy a million favors, none of that will save your lives." Natsu growled before kicking Elfman in the chest, causing him to cry out and roll over to Hibiki and Lucy.

"Please stop.." came a weak voice to the side of Natsu, causing everyone in the area to look over to see Wendy tiredly sitting up, looking at Natsu with a mixture of fear and determination, said Dragon Slayer sighed.

"I'm not in the shape to be beating people up right now. You saved my life Wendy, and I won't forget that." Natsu said as he reached for the sword on his back, looking for something to lean on, and frowned when he felt nothing on his back. "Where's my sword?" Natsu asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the four in front of him.

"I have it, and I don't trust you enough to give it back." Hibiki said, showing Natsu his sword, causing Natsu to snap his gaze to Hibiki.

"The Archive Wizard." Natsu drawled. "A mage with no offensive capabilities, thinks he can take on the Dragon Slayer?"

"You're nearly dead." Hibiki tried to point out, but Natsu snorted.

"You saw it yourself, Wendy healed me, my magic may be empty but I can guarantee you will find yourself enjoying the taste of the dirt beneath your feet if you don't give me that sword back." Natsu growled at Hibiki, who took a step back at the threat. What Hibiki didn't see, was the fatigue growing in Natsu, who had used almost all of his regained energy to bring down Elfman, who was still on the ground.

"Why should he give you the sword back when you are obviously going to use it to escape?" Lucy questioned, raising an eyebrow at Natsu, who sighed.

"Do I need to take it from yo-" Natsu started before he was cut off by Wendy.

"He could help us!" Wendy piped up, drawing looks from everyone present.

"Wendy, he has already made it clear that he won't help us, even if we help him in return." Hibiki explained to Wendy as calmly as he could. The little girls shoulder's sagged at the revelation before Natsu snorted exhaustedly.

"I recall saying that I don't take orders from you, only the little girl who saved my life. God knows the Oracion Seis are probably happy that I'm 'gone', so it's up to her." Natsu said with little emotion in his voice.

Wendy's head snapped to Natsu with a hopeful look in her eyes. "So you'll help us?" Wendy asked as her eyes went wide into the puppy dog eyes that almost made Natsu smile at her, but instead he sighed.

"As I said, if that's what you want Wendy. An upside is I'll get to put Brain in his place." Natsu shrugged, causing Elfman, Lucy and Hibiki's eyes to go wide.

"You will willingly help us?!" Lucy exclaimed, causing Natsu to wince at the loud sound, his ears ringing, only adding to his complaining body.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Natsu asked when his ears stopped ringing, giving Lucy a bored look. Lucy tried to respond, but her response died in her throat.

"She may not but I do." Hibiki said. "I don't want to work with you, you are dangerous, unpredictable and may stab us in the back at anytime."

Natsu's gaze shifted from Lucy to Hibiki, which, although Hibiki would never admit, almost made him freeze on the spot. Something about how the Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse stared right into Hibiki's soul unnerved him beyond words. Noticing that Hibiki had frozen to the spot, he calmly walked over, not once breaking eye contact , and wrenched his sword out of Hibiki's hands and calmly walked back over to Wendy whilst slinging his sword back into the holster strapped to his back, which somehow survived the rapids.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at the frozen group in front of him, before snapping his fingers to gain their attention. Lucy and Hibiki snapped out of their little trance to the sight of Natsu, sword on his back, giving them a bored look. "Well not what?" Natsu said as he looked to Wendy for directions.

"Umm.. I don't know really…" Wendy trailed off, not being able to meet the eyes of Natsu who shrugged and leaned back on the tree behind him. While Natsu expected some relief from leaning on the tree, he actually had to bite his tongue from letting a sigh of relief escape his mouth.

"I'd assume something about the Oracion Seis?" Natsu muttered under his breath, knowing that Wendy would be able to hear him. The little girl jumped at the idea.

"O-oh yeah! We need to stop them!" Wendy declared, causing Natsu to shrug.

"Sure, I'd like to knock Cobra down a few pegs without Brain yelling at me." Natsu said as he gave a glance to the other mages in the area, as if looking for their opinion.

Lucy sighed at the thought of working with Natsu, but seeing as how Wendy wouldn't have it any other way, she relented. "Ok fine, but we are doing this the legal way, not however a dark mage would do it." Hibiki forcefully said to Natsu, who shrugged.

"Sure, why not." Was all Natsu said before looking at Wendy again.

"Your call when we leave Wendy." Natsu said to Wendy, who could've sworn that she saw the smallest hints of a smile on his mouth, but it was gone just as fast as it came.

"Um… can we wait for a couple of minutes? I'm still kinda tired." Wendy said as she sat down on the ground.

"I suppose that's fine, but we'll need to move out eventually." Hibiki said to Wendy, his distrusting gaze never leaving Natsu, whose gaze snapped right back to Hibiki.

"Relax, a few minutes of rest isn't going to kill anyone." Natsu said as he let his eyes close and his body transfer even more weight to the tree. Natsu was perfectly aware of a few things, however. The first being that he was still going to prison, no matter how much he helped the people in front of him, the second being that he needed a hospital, and the third being that he was definitely sure that Acnologia was laughing at him for needing the help of a little girl.

* * *

 _Tada! The fourth chapter's done, sorry for the wait, school started up and I got busy as hell, so sorry… anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought._

 _See you later_

 _~Solo_


	5. Clashes of Titans

Natsu frowned when he saw the spider like structure raise up in front of him. He always hated vehicles. They made his stomach churn uncomfortably and as a result, he often hurled as a result. So no Natsu did not like vehicles.

"I guess that's Nirvana." Natsu muttered as the rest of the allied mages looked on in awe.

"It's huge!" Lucy yelled. "How are we supposed to find 5 people on that!"

"When you and them are hunting each other, it will be surprisingly simple." Natsu said as he pushed himself off the tree he had been leaning on and began to walk through the foliage towards Nirvana. He frowned again at the spider like structure. Something other than the fact that it was a vehicle unnerved him greatly, and it smelled horribly of death. Natsu could smell that even from where he stood. "Wendy, wake up, we need to go." Natsu said as he shook the little girl, causing her to jump up and rub the bleariness out of her eyes.

"Do you even have a strategy Salamander?" Hibiki asked Natsu, who shrugged at the question.

"Well no, not really. I plan to knock a couple of heads together." Natsu shrugged as he drew his sword, causing Hibiki to sight at Natsu. Of course the new 'member' of their little group wanted to rush in without a plan and get them all possibly killed. Maybe that was his plan… Hibiki was snapped from that dark train of thought by Lucy.

"That just seems like you're going to get yourself killed." Lucy sweatdropped as Natsu rolled his eyes at her, but continued towards Nirvana anyways, slashing down a branch that stood in his way, making Lucy sweatdrop again at the headstrong Natsu who was apparently feeling remarkably better.

"Well, I guess we're following the fugitive." Hibiki said as motioned for the rest of the light mages to follow Natsu. "But keep your guard up, we don't know what he'll do when he finds another one of his guild member." Hibiki finished, his eyes never leaving the bright red Oración Seis guild mark on Natsu's right bicep.

"Does he even know he doesn't have a shirt on?" Lucy asked with a small blush as Natsu continued to hack his way through the forest, oblivious to the wizards behind him.

"Probably not. I wonder if he has any fish?" Happy wondered as he flew towards the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer, causing the rest of the mages to cry out in surprise as Happy landed on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu quickly snapped his head to Happy who waved in greeting.

"Hi!" The blue cat exclaimed, causing Natsu to give him an odd look. "I'm Happy! You don't have a shirt!"

The cat's sudden burst of courage to talk to the dragon slayer definitely interested Natsu, who looked down and noticed that he was indeed lacking a shirt, and shrugged as he kept moving towards Nirvana

"I guess I don't." Natsu said as he looked up at Nirvana again and saw a streak of purple race around the top. "Cobra…" Natsu muttered to himself.

"Who?" Happy asked.

"I can see Cobra from here, but he's flying around on that snake of his." Natsu announced to the group, causing them to rush up to him and squint to see the small purple speck flying around in the air.

"Well it doesn't look like he'll be much of a problem at the moment, we should continue onwards." Hibiki said, as he continued towards Nirvana, but Natsu was rooted to the spot.

"Happy," Natsu called out to the blue cat, who looked at Natsu from his shoulder. "Want to help settle an issue between two dragons?" Natsu asked as he slid his katana back into it's sheath, making Happy shrug, causing Natsu to sigh and remember what the cat had said earlier about wondering if he had any fish.

Natsu also knew that by all means that he should not go picking a fight with Cobra already, he had just woken up, but a few minutes of clearing his head and letting Wendy's healing magic worked wonders on the Dragon Slayer, who felt as if he could go toe to toe with Acnologia and wipe that cocky grin off that damn dragon's face just once. But that was a matter for a different time, right now he had to convince the cat to help him out.

"I'll give you any fish of your choosing if you hel-" Was all Natsu got out before Happy wrapped his tail around Natsu and shot off towards Cobra, yelling about fish.

The rest of the group just stared at the duo who were speeding towards Cobra at a high speed. "Did he just escape?" Lucy asked, confusion lacing her voice.

Hibiki let out a rather irritated sigh. "I think so. C'mon, let's keep going towards Nirvana and find the others."

* * *

Natsu would never admit that he liked the feeling of flying with the blue cat on his back. Something about simply gliding through the air aside from using magic power to keep himself afloat was refreshing to the Dragon Slayer, whose gaze never left the red haired Oracion Seis member that was gliding about on his snake above Nirvana, who had just noticed Natsu and let his jaw drop open and his eyes widen.

"You're supposed to be dead! And where the hell is your shirt?!" Cobra yelled at Natsu who motioned for Happy to not get any closer and shrugged at Cobra's remarks.

"It takes a lot more than a stab wound to kill me. I am going to have some words with Brain about sending me on suicide missions though. Don't know about the shirt" Natsu said as he glared at Cobra, who growled back at Natsu.

"No, you need to die." Cobra growled as he shot towards Natsu on Cubellios, which Happy nimbly dodged and Natsu quickly nailed Cobra in the back of the head with a fish, causing Cobra to stumble on his snake and look at Natsu in shock.

"I couldn't read you…" Cobra trailed off, causing Natsu to grin savagely at the response.

"Did you think Acnologia would never think that I might go up against someone who could read my thoughts? The Dragon of the Apocalypse isn't an idiot Cobra, I've been trained in all sorts of manners." Natsu said with a wicked grin on his face. "Including how to kill anyone who says that they are a dragon."

Natsu gave Happy a pat, causing him to race at Cobra who swiftly moved out of the way and had Cubellios snap at Natsu, who kicked the snake in the jaw, causing it to rear it's head back.

Cobra snarled at Natsu for kicking Cubellios, and had Cubellios charge straight at Natsu, fangs at the ready as Natsu and Happy met Cubellios' charge head on and nailed Cobra right off of his snake with a headbutt worthy of the strongest bull.

Cobra gasped as he fell and let out a grunt when he felt Cubellios fly underneath him and catch him from falling to his death. "Enough is enough Salamander!" Cobra roared as he made his way to his feet on the back of the purple serpent. "I have always told you that there is only room for one dragon in the sky, and today one of us is going to die!" Cobra roared as a dark red magic circle appeared around his hand and Cobra's hands were covered in dark red scales on the top and a smooth white on the bottom while Natsu smirked. He had gotten Cobra to use his Dragon Slayer Magic.

" **Poison Dragon's Scales!** " Cobra yelled as he send a barrage of poison covered projectiles at Natsu, having Happy simply guide through them, but one managed to strike the blue exceed, who cried out in pain and let go of Natsu and began to plummet to the Earth. Natsu quickly activated **Apocalypse Dragon's Flight** with his limited magic in order to stay aloft, and blasted down to catch the falling cat.

"Are you okay Happy?" Natsu asked as he scooped the cat out of the air. The cat had clearly been affected by the minimal amount of poison he had been struck by. The cat was panting, and seemed to be in pain. Natsu knew that this poison wasn't lethal in small amounts though. Cubellios' poison was the deadly one that he had to watch out for.

"Aye," Happy said weakly, giving Natsu a weak salute making Natsu smile softly at him.

"Can you keep going?"

"Aye sir," Happy said again, but this time with a tad more determination in his voice.

Natsu ruffled the hair on the cat and deactivated his flight when Happy hoisted him up again. With a slightly sickly Happy, the duo launched themselves at the patiently waiting Cobra who grinned before launching his next spell.

" **Poison Dragon's Scales!** " Cobra yelled as he swung his arm at Natsu again, sending another volley of scales at Natsu, which Happy barely dodged, until Natsu got an idea.

"Happy, ram the red haired son of a bitch!" Natsu yelled to the blue cat, who gave him a weird look but listened anyways and flew straight towards the Poison Dragon Slayer. Cobra grinned as he motioned to Cubellios to meet their charge head on, and readied his next spell.

" **Poison Dragon's...** " Cobra began to yell as a stream of poison gathered around his hands and prepared to bring it down on Natsu, who was still flying straight towards Cobra with a grin on his face. The grin of someone who knew something that you don't. " **Crushing Fang!** " Cobra finished as he brought his hand down, only for Natsu to yell out his own spell.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Guard!** " Natsu yelled out as he formed a blue gladiator like shield on his arm and rammed straight through Cobra's fang attack, and knocked the Poison Dragon Slayer right off of Cubellios. Not giving the snake the time to go after it's owner, Natsu yelled out his next spell. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** "

With that, Natsu slugged the fleeing purple serpent right in the back of the head, sending it right towards Cobra, was also falling towards the earth. "After them Happy!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye sir!" The now adrenaline fueled Happy yelled as he sped after the falling Oración Seis member. Happy couldn't remember a time when he felt so useful. Sure he carried people around during their previous adventures, but it seemed that Natsu didn't only want him to carry him around. Instead it was like he was fighting with Natsu. When Happy got hurt, Natsu got hurt, when Natsu scored a blow, Happy felt successful, and when Natsu yelled out his next attack, Happy felt inclined to make sure that it hit. It felt like he had just found his greatest friend.

And so the duo raced into the city of Nirvana, after the falling snake and dark mage in the hopes of ending the fight. Weaving between the buildings, Natsu and Happy raced towards where they found quite the sight.

Cubellios had obviously tried to break Cobra's fall and get them back up in the air, but the suckerpunch from Natsu had left the snake and Cubellios had ended up crashing into the ground, sending Cobra tumbling, who was just now stumbling to his feet.

"Cubellios!" Cobra cried out, in shock of seeing his friend defeated. He ran over to the fallen snake to make sure it was alright, and was beyond relieved when he found out that the snake was merely knocked out. Then he heard the thoughts of the blue cat behind him and the dark chuckling of Natsu.

"Looks like I clipped off your wings there Cobra." Natsu said with a grin as he had Happy drop him on the ground. The blue cat quickly scampered over to cover in order to not get hurt in the following fight. "Care to end this fight like dragons?".

Cobra snarled at Natsu and flexed his his dragon like claws angrily. "You son of a bitch, I'm going to make you pay for hurting Cubellios!" Cobra yelled as he charged Natsu, poison swirling around his hand.

" **Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust!** " Cobra shouted as he threw his arm forward, and a long whip like object with a snake head shot at Natsu, who merely sidestepped and drew his katana. When the snake came at him again, Natsu swung and cleaved the attack in half, causing it to flicker out, but Cobra was on Natsu in an instant, shouting out his next attack before Natsu could respond.

" **Poison Dragon's Crushing Grip!** " Cobra yelled out as he slammed his hand into Natsu's chest, and released a blast of Poison which sent Natsu flying backwards, which made the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer groan as he began to stand up, but was never given the chance.

" **Poison Dragon's Claw!** " Cobra yelled out as his poison covered foot firmly connected with Natsu's side, forcing the air out of Natsu's lungs as he was thrown several feet backwards, only to be shot into the air by another one of Cobra's **Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust's**.

Cobra snarled as he ran under where Natsu would land and began charging up an attack in his hands. Seconds before Natsu would have landed on top of him, Natsu's eyes shot open and his fist began to glow blue as both Dragon Slayer's yelled out their next attack.

" **Poison Dragon's Crushing Grip!** "

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** "

The two attacks met head on and caused a shockwave, which send both Natsu and Cobra tumbling, as they both forced themselves to their feet in the hopes of getting the next strike. Natsu got up seconds before Cobra and used those seconds to groan and crack his neck, before sidestepping a charge from Cobra, and yawning at the Poison Dragon Slayer.

"I gotta admit, actually hurt a little Cobra, but let's kick it up a notch." Natsu said with a grin as he took a deep breath and Cobra's eyes widened. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu shouted as he released a torrent of blue energy from his mouth, which reached Cobra in less than a second and blew the snake wizard off of his feet and sent him flying into the building behind him, causing the wall to tumble down.

Cobra groaned as he rolled to his feet. Without being able to predict the movements of his enemies, he had to rely completely on his Dragon Slayer magic, which paled in comparison to Natsu's.

"Get up." Natsu said as he walked over to the panting Cobra. "That was one roar attack, we've still got a ways to go before this fight is over." Natsu growled as his feet began to glow blue. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu yelled out as he kicked Cobra in the solar plexus, causing Cobra to go flying backwards and gasp out as he felt the wind forced out of his lungs. Cobra growled as he forced himself to his feet and took a deep breath, making Natsu grin at the attack headed his way.

" **Poison Dragon's Roar!** " Cobra yelled as a tornado of dark red poison launched itself at Natsu, who grinned at the challenge, before quickly taking in a deep breath of his own.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu yelled out as the blue torrent launched itself from his mouth again, and smashed head on into Cobra's roar. The attacks stood at a standstill for a few seconds, before slowly, but surely, Natsu's roar began to overtake Cobra's.

Cobra's eyes widened as he tried to force more magic into his roar, only for Natsu's roar to blast through the poison like a rocket and slam into Cobra once again, sending the Poison Dragon Slayer tumbling, before he laid down in defeat.

 _My prayer… I...just wanted to hear the voice of my one friend… Cubellios…_ Cobra thought tiredly as his exhausted gaze slid over to the downed purpled snake, who was still down for the count. Cobra let out a small sigh before letting unconsciousness take over his body.

Natsu snorted at the prone form of Cobra. The fake dragon slayer wasn't dead, not like Natsu had almost been, but he would be out for quite a while. He let out a sigh before plopping down on the ground, and caught his breath as he heard Happy walk over to him.

"That was awesome Salamander!" Happy yelled out as he waved his paws at Natsu, who let out a small chuckle at the blue cat.

"My name is Natsu, Happy. The Oración Seis only call me that because Natsu wasn't intimidating enough." Natsu explained to Happy, who rubbed a paw against his head in confusion. Sure they were dark mages but did their names need to be intimidating as well. Happy thought that someone named Dave could be just as scary as someone named Reaper.

Natsu gave a small chuckle at the cat's determined thinking face, before Natsu rubbed the top of Happy's head. "Don't worry about it too much, the name's Natsu Dragneel, Happy." Natsu said before he gave another small chuckle, which made Happy look at him.

"What's so funny?" Happy asked, confusion clear in his voice.

"My dad, Acnologia, always hated my last name. Said it reminded him of Igneel too much." Natsu explained to Happy, who missed the small amount of sadness that crept into Natsu's voice at the name Igneel. The blue cat instead just nodded, pretending that he understood what Natsu had meant.

"Well." Natsu grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. "I suppose we ought to go find your friends, don't want them thinking I stole you." Natsu said to Happy, who jumped up in the air.

"Aye Sal-er Natsu!" Happy cried out as he wrapped his tail around Natsu's torso and shot into the air, causing Natsu's world to spin for just a second before he got to appreciate the feeling of flying with Happy once again.

* * *

Lucy let out a sigh as she plopped down on the ground, exhausted from their sprinted climb onto Nirvana. They had reached the spider like city much quicker when it started moving towards them, but climbing the legs was a huge pain. It was like trying to climb up a wall of ice with your bare hands. That and Carla had only offered to carry Wendy up, saying that only the girl needed assistance. That one had really annoying.

Lucy perked her head up when she saw Hibiki crack his neck and stand upright. "Alright." The tired Hibiki began. "So we have only us 5 who we know for sure are alive. We haven't had contact with anyone else of Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, or Fairy Tail." Hibiki explained. "That and it is extremely possible that the Salamander is holding Happy hosta-" Hibiki began before he was cut off my a voice in the distance.

"Natsu! I found them!" A familiar voice rang out as a blur of blue and pink shot towards the group, who stared at it in wonder, wondering if it really was Happy.

"Brakes cat! Brakes!" A voice they recognized as the Salamander's yelled out before Happy jerked to a stop and the Salamander was shot out of the cat's grip and into a building which crumbled upon impact.

Happy flinched at the crumbling noise of the building. "Sorry Natsu!" Happy called out to the Salamander, who groaned as he pushed rubble off of him and shook the blurriness from his vision.

"Preferably when I say stop, stop." Natsu said as he brushed the dust out of his hair and looked at the group in front of him and frowned. "What, surprised to see me and the cat again? By the way, Cobra's down for the count" Natsu said as he brushed more rubble off of his shoulders, and pulled a chunk out from behind his ear. The others eyes widened at the new piece of information given to them. He took down a member of the Oración Seis and looked no worse for wear, aside from the rubble he was brushing off of himself.

"I will admit, I am." Hibiki said with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you had just manipulated Happy into helping you escape, but it seems that you were telling the truth when you said you'd help us."

Natsu raise an eyebrow. "I do that quite a lot, you people are always surprised." He shrugged before looking up to the top of Nirvana. "So we have to get up there." Natsu pointed out. "According to what Brain had said about this place, you can control it from the top, so you can probably shut it down there as well." Natsu noted as he looked around. "My real question is, why does one of the most powerful weapons in all of existance look like an abandoned city?" Natsu asked as his eyes darted from building to building.

All of the mages of the alliance present just shrugged, making Natsu sigh. So everyone was just as clueless as him it seemed. Great. Perfect.

"So no one's got anything?" Natsu said with a raised eyebrow. They honestly thought that they should go attack the Oración Seis without even knowing what they were after? They really were idiots after all. Natsu shook his head and sighed before looking down the alley they were standing in, and he spotted a small figure approaching them. Natsu squinted at it, trying to see who it was before his eyes widened at the approaching figure. Just his luck.

"Get moving, quickly." Natsu barked as he drew his sword and slowly walked towards the moving figure.  
"And who are you to give orders?" Lucy asked hotly.

"Unless you want to watch me fight with the leader of the Oración Seis, you're gonna want to get a move on." Natsu said as he twirled his katana. "That means you too Happy." Natsu added when he saw the cat get ready to help him. The group behind him followed Natsu's gaze and paled at the approaching figure.

"You know…" Wendy trailed off. "I think I might want to listen to him on this one." She finished meekly, causing Lucy to nod in agreement.

"Yeah I think I'll just go to the top now." Lucy squeaked as she grabbed Elfman and Hibiki and raced away from Natsu and the approaching figure, with Wendy, Happy and Carla all in tow, leaving only a cloud of dust where they once stood. Natsu raised an eyebrow at how quickly they had cleared out. They were gone in less than 12 seconds.

"Well, well… the traitor." The figure barked out at Natsu, who rolled his eyes.

"Well it's about damn time you showed up, looks like I survived your little suicide mission Brain." Natsu calmly responded as he twirled his katana lazily. "I think we both know who's going to win this little matchup, so just do me a favor and know yourself out with that ridiculous staff of yours, will you Brain?" Natsu asked as he stabbed his katana in the ground and leaned on it, a smirk growing on his face.

"You disrespectful little brat." Brain snarled at Natsu. "It seems like if you want a job done, you must do it yourself. Time to put down the dragon." Brain barked before firing a blast of green energy at Natsu from his staff, who merely sidestepped and let the beam fly by him.

"Missed me." Natsu taunted as slid his katana back into the sheath and he rushed Brain. Brain raised his staff to fire at Natsu again, but was surprised when he shot a ray of energy into thin air, as Natsu disappeared in a flash of blue. It was less than a second later that Brain felt a fist connect itself with the back of his head and sent him tumbling forward.

"You little worm." Brain snarled at Natsu as he swung his staff like a club at Natsu, who slid his katana out of the sheath and blocked the staff in one fluid motion. Natsu smirked as he planted his foot right in Brain stomach and delivered a devastating headbutt, which send the Guildmaster of the Oración Seis tumbling into the dirt.

Brain groaned as he stood up, and growled as he forced himself to his feet and shouted out an attack. " **Dark Rondo!** " Brain yelled as dozens of beams shot out at Natsu, who sprinted to his left to avoid the incoming attack, but Brain simply followed Natsu with the attack until it caught up with him and blew Natsu off of his feet.

The Dragon Slayer cried out as he was thrown straight through a house, meaning in one end and out the other, from the attack. He rolled for several feet before groaning and pushing himself to his feet. He needed to get in close, Natsu help the extreme advantage there, at a distance Brain could just Rondo him into oblivion.

Natsu picked himself up and lept through the house he had just remodeled before running straight at Brain, only to get a face full of green energy, which send him stumbling back. When his vision cleared, the first thing that Natus saw was a blur of white before the skull on Brain's staff slammed into him and knocked him off of his feet.

Brain had a sadistic grin as he placed a foot on top of Natsu's downed torso and held his staff right above Natsu's head, a beam already charging. "You played your part Salamander, and you have no further use to the Oración Seis, we can afford no loose ends here. Good bye." Brain said as he let loose the laser, only to be blown back by the shock wave of his beam being blocked, and not tearing through Natsu.

Natsu grunted as he let his **Apocalypse Dragon's Guard** fade out of existence and he pushed himself to his feet, wobbling dangerously once before getting his footing, yet a grin somehow still made itself onto Natsu's face. A ghastly grin that seemed even more eerie in the setting sun.

"Ya know Brain, I was hoping for a better fight." Natsu taunted as he twirled his katana and spoke next attack in the fight. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Piercing Blade** ," Natsu muttered as his signature blue energy covered his katana and Natsu rushed Brain, who had just regained his footing and groaned as the sprinting Natsu slammed into him, knocking Brain off of his feet and the staff out of his hands. Natsu capitalized on the open opportunity and swung his katana around, cleaving the skull off of Brain's staff, and rendering the staff useless. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu yelled out as his foot connected with the top of Brain's torso and forced his former Guildmaster into the ground, where Natsu then leaped into the air and took a deep breath before yelling out the finisher. " **Apocalypse Dragons' Roar!** " Natsu yelled out as the torrent of blue energy slammed into the downed Brain with a massive amount of force and caused an explosion of rubble where the Guildmaster laid.

Natsu let out a pant as he landed on the ground before stumbling and having to grab a nearby house's wall to keep himself upright. Those beams of Brain's hurt. Natsu grunted as he pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to the smoking crater where Brain laid, and was greeted with a great sight, for him at least. Brain was barely conscious, and was covered in cuts and abrasions from his surprise crash course with the ground. His jacket was a tattered remain of what it had once been, and Natsu noticed that it seemed that Brain had less tattoos than before.

"And the mightiest of the Oración Seis has fallen to the Dragon Slayer." Natsu mocked as he slid down the crater to where Brain laid prone. Natsu laughed out loud at the downed Brain, who only grunted at Natsu, before a small, barely noticeable smirk made it's way onto Brain's face as the last tattoo glowed white on his face and vanished completely, making Natsu raise an eyebrow.

"Where'd the tattoo go?" Natsu asked Brain who let out a dry, tired chuckle at the Dragon Slayer who walked over and kicked Brain in the rib cage in order to get him to stop smirking.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I was you. A nice cold cell, or capital punishment is what's awaiting all of us, the only difference between you and me being that I can still run for a bit longer." Natsu mocked as he placed his foot and leaned on Brain before grinning at him. "Got anything left to say?" Natsu asked Brain, whose small smirk returned.

"You all stand no chance against what's coming." Brain's voice was dry and hoarse, but his statement still made Natsu raise his eyebrow. Had he forgotten something? He was almost positive that he hadn't.

"And what's coming?" Natsu asked, with little curiosity in his voice, but in reality, Natsu was very curious as to what Brain was threatening him with.

A dry chuckle escaped Brain's lips once again. "Zero" was all Brain said before he succumbed to unconsciousness, making Natsu's eyes widen drastically. How could he have forgotten?! Natsu cursed himself for his stupidity and raced out of the crater, he needed to warn that group of mages that had saved him. While Natsu was more than a match for Brain, he was certain that Zero held the upper hand in both magical strength and strategies in a fight. And if Natsu would lose to Brain, then the mages who saved him would stand no chance at all. Natsu cursed himself again as he sniffed the air and raced towards the familiar scent of Happy, hoping against hope that he would reach the group before Zero awoke. He had let Brain fall into unconsciousness, so that should have delayed the awakening. If he had tried to kill Brain, then Zero would have awoken immediately, and the Oración Seis would win this little war of theirs. Natsu forced himself to sprint faster across the abandoned city towards the scent of the cat. If he was lucky, a few of them might survive this.

* * *

Hibiki took a couple deep breaths to calm his breathing as the group finally stopped running away from Natsu and Brain. That was a fight that they all were afraid to watch. The Dragon Slayer of Acnologia vs the Guildmaster of the Oración Seis was a matchup that people dreamed about, but never actually wanted to happen.

"Who do you think won?" Lucy asked as she caught her breath. Natsu seemed to have a bit of fatigue with him after beating Cobra, so that couldn't have fared well in a fight against Cobra's guildmaster.

"Natsu!" Happy said with certainty. "I know that Natsu kicked that old guy's butt!" The little cat cried out with excitement.

"I wouldn't be certain." Carla commented. "Brain most certainly isn't the Guildmaster of one of the most powerful Dark Guilds in all of Fiore for nothing." The white cat commented, making Wendy frown.

"Yeah, but Natsu is a Dragon Slayer." Wendy said, making Lucy flinch a little.

"Wendy's right, it takes a lot to take down a Dragon Slayer, it took both Gray and Erza to finally knock Gajeel out, and I have a feeling that this Natsu guy is way more powerful than Gajeel." Lucy said as she recalled the flashes of ice, sparks and iron that all occurred on the rooftops of the Phantom Lord Guild Hall, and how Gajeel had taken on Erza and Gray, and handled himself quite well until Gray got a lucky shot to end the match, which had caught the Iron Dragon Slayer off guard.

"Lucy's right, almost nothing can keep Gajeel down." Happy said as he flew circles around Lucy's head, making Lucy bat annoyingly at the cat, in the hopes of getting him to stop, making Happy laugh as he flew over next to Wendy, who smiled at the blue cat.

"Yeah, Gajeel's a real man!" Elfman chimed in, making everyone else present, minus Wendy, roll their eyes.

"I guess we'll see." Hibiki said. "But for now, I think that our priority should be taking out the controls on Nirvana, so that it is rendered useless."

"Yeah I guess, umm… which way did he say to go again?" Lucy asked as she looked around their surroundings. She had no idea where they were.

"That is a… good question." Hibiki admitted. They had ran away from the clash of Brain and Natsu so quickly, that they had failed to take into account where they were actually going.

"Well, I guess we get to wander around a deserted city." Lucy sighed as they all started to walk down a street. And wander they did, for quite a bit of time, the group wandered without directions through the streets of Nirvana, looking for something that could be the controls of the weapons. Eventually growing desperate, they were all about ready to give up, when a flash of Pink hair raced around the corner and slammed into Lucy, knocking her over and causing the pink blur to groan as he took a few steps back to stabilize himself.  
"Wow you have a hard head." Natsu muttered as he rubbed his forehead, causing Lucy to squeak in protest from the ground as Happy gave a delighted cry at seeing Natsu again.

"Natsu!" Happy cried out as he flew over and landed on Natsu's head and hugging Natsu's head, which made Natsu look up at the cat, before shrugging and turning to Hibiki.

"You, you're the archive wizard right?" Natsu asked, snapping Hibiki out of his little shock of seeing Natsu again.

"Yes, that's me." Hibiki confirmed.

"Then contact every one of your team mates that you can find, we're going to need them all to stop what's coming at us." Natsu said as he leaned down on his thighs while trying to catch his breath.

"Woah, wait, back up and reverse, what's coming at us?" Lucy asked, fear creeping into her voice. Whatever had Natsu saying that he was going to need all the help that they could to get to defeat what was coming must be pretty terrifying

Natsu took a few deep breaths before turning to the blonde celestial wizard. "Zero"

As if one cue, as Natsu spoke the name Zero, Brain's eyes snapped open, however they no longer had a white sclera, but instead the sclera was blood red.

Zero had awoken.

* * *

 _And there's chapter 5, lemme know what you thought and until next time, I'll see you later_

 _~Solo_


	6. Cancelling the Apocalypse

**New Poll up on the pairing, lemme know what you want… also, let's see who can cash in on the subtle hints I've dropped in the past this chapter.**

"Woah wait," Lucy started. "Back up a second, who's Zero?" The blonde questioned, wondering why Natsu seemed to be so terrified of a number. Pretty silly thing to be terrified of, but the panting Natsu who had clearly gotten here as fast as he could to warn them put her just slightly on edge. Ok, scratch that, more like completely on edge.

"The true guildmaster of the Oración Seis," Natsu said as he absentmindedly scratched Happy's ears, making the cat give a soft mewl of bliss. That caused a few of the wizards to look at him oddly, before shaking it off and continuing to listen to what he had to say.

"Brain's essentially got two separate personalities, there's Brain who we all know and love, the one who likes order and to achieve things, to build up his empire, and generally the guy you'd rather meet in a dark alley as opposed to Zero. Getting to Zero, Zero's the side if Brain that wants to do nothing but destroy. He's far stronger than Brain and is completely insane. If Zero want's to destroy something, it's gonna get destroyed." Natsu explained to the light wizards, whose eyes widened as the revelation.

"Wait, but I don't understand, how is Brain in control of his body then?" Hibiki asked.

Natsu scrunched his eyebrows together in thought for a second before replying. "I honestly don't know. All I know is that his tattoos all disappeared off of his body, and those most likely sealed Zero. Maybe they were linked to the Oración Seis? I dunno, long story short, link everyone up and tell them that Zero's coming." Natsu ordered to Hibiki who narrowed his eyes at Natsu.

"And how do we know you aren't lying?"

"Have I lied to you once in my time with you?" Natsu shot back, making Hibiki open his mouth, only to close it again when he realized that Natsu was right. Hibiki sighed and reluctantly pulled up his Archive Magic, and set to work on finding the locations of everyone on Nirvana.

"So when we find everyone, what are we going to do about Zero?" Wendy asked Natsu, who cracked his neck before responding.

"You guys, are going to do nothing about Zero. You're all weakened and he could swat you all aside like flies. I am going to stall Zero until you all bring this crumbling ruin crashing to the ground. Then we'll go from there, assuming we're all still alive." Natsu said as he turned to Hibiki. "How are you doing on locating everyone?" He asked.

"I've found almost everyone, I'm no longer being blocked by whatever I was before, so I'm just looking for Erza at the moment." Hibiki explained as his fingers flew across the holographic keyboard.

"Wait, what do you mean if you're still alive?" Wendy cried out, causing Natsu to raise an eyebrow.

"Zero isn't going to hold back against me, he'll be going full force, so of course he'll be trying to kill me." Natsu said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well yeah, but how long are you going to be able to fight against him?" Lucy questioned, gesturing to Natsu, who looked down on himself and gave himself a quick once over. The worst of his injuries were gone, having been healed by Wendy, and all he got were a flew bruises, cuts and scraps at the worst from his last two battles. Sure he was feeling a little drained, so he silently hoped that it would take Hibiki just a little bit longer than necessary to find the redhead who had stabbed him.

"It'll have to be long enough." Natsu deduced as he turned to Hibiki again.

"And if it isn't" Wendy asked, dreading the answer. Natsu only shrugged before replying.

"Then I die." Was the curt response.

"And you're okay with that?!" Lucy shrieked at him, making Natsu flinch and rub his ears. For God's sake, he was only helping these people because they basically forced his hand. Since when the hell do they care about his well being?

"I never said I was okay with it. It's merely a risk I'm going to have to take." _And if I fail then I can be with them._ Natsu thought the last part to him silently. Death didn't seem all too terrifying to him. While he did have a fire in his heart that wished for him to stay alive, death wasn't all too terrible of an option.

"I found Erza." Hibiki broke in, causing Natsu to snap to him.

"Where is she?"

"She's about a mile and a half away from her, I'll send her a message that we're on our way, but-" Hibiki started before Natsu cut him off briskly.

"That'll never work, you know that your Titania will immediately go after Zero after being informed of your plan without someone there to stop her. I'll go find her" Natsu said dismissively as he cracked his neck. "Which direction do I need to head from here to give her a message."

Hibiki gave Natsu a glance. "And why should you be the one to deliver the message?"

Natsu gave Hibiki a blank glance. "I can still run."

The blunt truth of both of Natsu's arguments caused Hibiki's resistance to crumble, and Hibiki sighed. "I really don't agree with your plan, but I suppose it is better than mine." Hibiki begrudgingly agreed. "She's to the southwest of us."

Natsu gave him a small nod. "I'll call out when I've found her, keep tabs on me will ya?" Was all Hibiki heard before Natsu sprinted southwest in the general direction of Erza.

A fire lit in his heart, the mages watched in slight awe as Natsu rocketed away from them at inhuman speeds.

The Allied Mages stared at Natsu as he raced off towards Erza's location, all with varying thoughts in their heads, ranging from _Erza might just stab him again_ to _I hope he'll be okay_. However, no one commented out loud and Hibiki just pulled up his archive magic and began to do a scan of Nirvana's structure in the looks for an exploitable weakness.

"So what do we think's gonna happen when he finds Erza?" Lucy asked.

"Erza'll fight him, like a real man!" Elfman cried out, causing Hibiki to roll his eyes at the white haired Take-Over mage. Couldn't he ever use his brain? Just once? Hibiki let out a small sigh at the realization that was probably too much to ask of Elfman.

* * *

Natsu groaned as he rounded another corner without sight of Titania. Where in the hell was she? Either his nose still had rubble stuffed up it from his fight with Brain or he was simply losing it. Probably the former. However the thought of an architectural wonder of a nose didn't stop Natsu from continuing to race across Nirvana in search of Erza in order to A) Shock the living hell out of her with him still being alive, B) Inform them of the plan, and just maybe C) get a little payback for the cheap shot from earlier.

Long story short Natsu was going to have a good time when he ran into that redhead again. Which turned out to be not that long after all.

After hurtling himself over a ruined house once again, Natsu was greeted with the sight of a panting Erza standing… Victoriously it could be called… over the downed body of Hot-Eye, who appeared to have been reaching for something before he fell.. his book maybe? And a still confused looking Jellal next to her.

Natsu let out a small sigh of relief at the fact that he had found Erza and still had time to spare, they could rally together and take down this damned walking city once and for all… but that didn't mean that Natsu was too happy about the defeat of his former teammate, even if Hot-Eye went on and on about money, he was the most bearable. Cobra hated his guts, Brain did too, Racer didn't listen to him, and Angel was always trying to sleep with him. Hot-Eye was the only one who Natsu could stand to be around.

Letting out a snort, Natsu alerted Erza to his presence. "While I'm not terribly happy that you beat my friend into the ground, we have more pressing matters." Natsu remarked as he walked into Erza's field of view, causing her eyes to widen more than possible.

"I-impossible! You perished when you fell to your demise off the bridge!" Erza declared as she requipped a sword and pointed it at Natsu who rolled his eyes.

"Put the damn letter open away before you hurt yourself Erza." Natsu said as he looked over to Jellal, who gave him a small smile and was clearly relieved to see that Natsu had lived. "Gonna take more than a stab wound and a fall to put a dragon down." Natsu finished as he shifted his gaze back to Erza, whose knuckles were white from gripping her blade, making Natsu raise an eyebrow.

"If you want a fight I won't stop you, but don't come crying when I whoop your ass in a fair fight." Natsu growled. "And not some cowardly backstabbing."

"Ah, Natsu." Jellal quickly broke in. "You didn't see how quickly she took down the orange haired bloke, I suggest that you might want to back off?"

Natsu snorted at Jellal's statement. Hot-Eye was substantially weaker than himself and everyone here knew it. He had a bit of magic in the reserve and a sword on his back, and while he was ready to explain the situation, he clearly wasn't getting that chance without a fight.

And Natsu wouldn't have it any other way.

"Well Titania?" Natsu called out. "If you want a fight then let's do it, I'm not getting any younger over here." Natsu mocked as he drew his katana from his back in a flash and slammed down on the streak of silver that rocketed towards him, sending Erza's flying blade into the ground and countering with a quick boot to the stomach, effectively knocking the air out of Erza and sending her tumbling.

"I can do this all day." Natsu drawled as he twirled his blade and waited for Erza to collect herself. Erza forced herself to her feet and growled at Natsu.

" **Requip! Flight Armor!** " Erza called out as her body began to glow, and when it faded, she was in the skimpy leopard print armor from when she was bitten by Cubellios just a few hours ago. Good times.

Natsu merely raised an eyebrow at the apparent challenge. With a fire in his eyes, and a small gesture of his hand, Erza rocketed towards Natsu even faster than before, but the Dragon Slayer's reflexes were still too fast after months of sparring with Racer. He still had some adrenaline pumping from the fight with Brain earlier, so Natsu was more alert than ever, and being alert meant the flooring of one redheaded fairy queen. This wouldn't even take any tricks he had up his sleeve.

Natsu barely hesitated as he twirled out of the way of the lightning quick slash and delivered a fiery roundhouse kick to the back of Erza's head, sending her tumbling into the ground. Not being so sparing this time, Natsu simply walked over and stomped on Erza's back and kept his foot there, claiming victory in less than five moves.

"Checkmate little fairy, gonna listen to what I have to say?" Natsu growled as he stabbed his katana into the ground mere inches from Erza's nose, causing the Titania's eyes to widen.

 _He sustained a near fatal injury earlier and defeated me in 3 moves? How great is the gap between us?!_ Erza's mind demanded an answer, but instead she gave a simple sigh and a nod, making Natsu grunt in approval and remove his foot from her spinal cord.

"Good, now you can shut up and listen. Something's coming, a threat greater than either Nirvana or the Oración Seis, and unfortunately, your guildmates convinced me that we're gonna need to work together to stop it." Natsu explained as he sheathed his sword. Erza's eyes narrowed suspiciously, obviously not happy with the fact that Natsu had been around the other light mages, and she hoped they were unharmed.

"What is this… plan?" Erza slowly asked, her eyes never once leaving the Dragon Slayer.

" _Yo pretty boy, found Erza, wanna giver her the plan?"_ Natsu called out in his mind, while never breaking eye contact with Erza.

" _My name is Hibiki, Natsu, and yes, uploading data to both your and Erza's minds right now_ " The tired voice of Hibiki rang clear in Natsu's mind, and before there was any protest, a loading bar appeared over both Natsu and Erza's heads, and quickly filled up, uploading the plan into both Natsu and Erza's heads.

" _It would appear that there are 6 ancient lacrimas powering Nirvana, normally we would regroup and knock them out one at a time, but these kind can apparently regenerate if not knocked out all at once. So we're gonna have to split up into 6 groups to knock out the lacrimas, I've got a few people linked in right now, who's taking which lacrima?_ " Came Hibiki's voice over Natsu's thoughts once again, only this time, Natsu felt the presence of other people as well, and he caught a distinct sour smell of useless destruction headed towards lacrima number 6.

" _I'll take number one, it's closest to me."_ came the voice of the hotheaded ice-make wizard from before. Natsu recalled the boy's odd stripping habit when he rushed him with the white haired brute.

" _I can get two, we're nearby as well._ " came Lucy's voice, which took Natsu a bit to recognize.

" _I'll take down the third one, like a real MAN!"_ came the voice of the mentioned white haired brute from before.

" _My parfume and I shall take down the fourth lacrima!"_ rang out the voice of the annoyingly short midget with a perfume obsession who failed to heal Erza.

Erza regarded Natsu with still guarded eyes as she spoke up. " _I will destroy the fifth lacrima."_ remarked the cool voice of the same woman who he had face down in the dirt minutes ago.

" _I-I guess that leaves me with lacrima number si-"_ the timid girl who had healed him began to say as Natsu immediately cut her off.

" _No, I have no doubt in your strength but it would be dwarfed against Zero's should you encounter him. Stay safe with Hibiki and I'll take the sixth lacrima."_ Natsu ordered as he closed the mental link, but not before he heard the ice mage exclaim " _who the hell was that?!"_

Erza's gaze on Natsu had softened now, and she spoke a question that was more a statement. "This Zero figure is at lacrima number 6 isn't he."

A grim nod was all she received. "Tell Wendy, that even if I don't make it, that the legacy of Dragon Slayers needs to live on." Was all Natsu replied with before sprinting off in the direction of what could possibly be his final fight.

* * *

Gray groaned as he stumbled into his lacrima chamber, and was beyond relieved to find it completely empty. " _I'm in position, tell me when"_ Gray spoke to Hibiki as he readied his Lance spell.

* * *

Lucy let out a small sigh of relief when she walked into her deserted lacrima chamber. Judging from the cracks in the walls and dust on the ground, no one had been here in a long time. " _I'm here Hibiki, just tell me when"_ Lucy said as she fingered the Taurus key on her belt.

* * *

Elfman let out a shout of glee when he entered his empty lacrima chamber. The moss that had crawled up the walls and onto the ceiling made sure that Elfman knew he had no chance of quarreling with Zero on this day. " _Alright man, I'm ready to smash this thing like a real MAN!"_ Elfman mentally shouted to Hibiki, making the Blue Pegasus mage flinch at the loud noise of the take over mage before sighing and checking in on his mentor.

* * *

Ichiya managed to scoot his tied up body into the chamber, after having been captured by the dark guild members (long story) and dropped, he had answered the call for help by rolling his small body over to the lacrima closest to him. " _Hibiki, I have reached the lacrima and this place has a dreaded parfume, please tell me we can destroy it quickly and I can leave."_ Ichiya shot to his student, who let out a small sigh at his teacher.

* * *

Erza gave a disapproving glare at the pearl colored lacrima in front of her. She had no challenger, as was expected as the Salamander had gone to take on Zero, which as Hibiki had gone on to later explain, was the superpowered version of Brain, and would most likely be the Salamander's end.

The Salamander.

While the name still left a bitter taste in Erza's mouth, she was informed that his name was

Natsu, and he had gone to great lengths to repay them for having Wendy heal him after he crashed from the sky. Even taking down Cobra and Brain, even if he accidentally released Zero in the process. So while he may have been the enemy, Erza could not help but feel a sliver of respect for the outlaw. He had helped them after all.

" _Hibiki, I'm at the fifth lacrima, inform me when it is time to strike."_

* * *

Natsu knew his life was over the second that he entered the chamber.

Standing in front of him was the ever smug looking Zero, standing there in a military class bomber jacket and cargo pants, with his hands patiently folded behind his back. His entire posture was different from Brain's. Brain had been somewhat relaxed in his typically posture and was a pretty relaxed guy overall, until you pissed him off. Zero, was completely different. Zero stood at attention naturally, the sign of a born soldier. He appeared to be strict and unforgiving to others. And he was completely insane.

"I've been expecting you." Came the dark voice of what used to be the Guild master of the Oración Seis.

"You listened in to our little telepathy call didn't you?" Natsu responded as he cracked his neck and knuckles in preparation for the fight. _I wonder if I'll have to use… that._

"The Hibiki boy is not the only one in possession of Archive Magic, it was quite simple to listen in on your plan little Salamander." Zero mocked as he spread his arms out wide. "Come at me little Dragon, let us see if the Dragon can triumph over the destroyer."

Natsu let out a small sigh as he positioned his feet and rocketed himself at Zero, roaring as the familiar blue energy pumped adrenaline through his veins. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu roared as he brought his fist back and swung with all his might at the smirking monster in front of him.

Only to be backhanded across the chamber. Natsu let out a grunt as he hit the stones hard, rolling until his slammed into the wall causing him to stop. Natsu let out a hiss as he stood up and glared at the still smirking Zero, his hands now alight with a dark green energy.

"Was that all you've got little Dragon?" Zero mocked. "I can do this forever."

Natsu growled as stood up and raised his hands to the sky " **Apocalypse Dragon's Shearing Blades!** " Natsu yelled as he swung his arms towards Zero, causing dozens of razor sharp bright blue projectiles to form and launch themselves at Zero, who shorted and simply swatted the blades away, causing Natsu's eyes to widen, and in retaliation, Natsu took a deep breath. " **Apocalypse Dragon Roar!** " Natsu shouted at the familiar torrent of blue energy blasted it's way across the chamber to Zero, who simply sighed and raised a hand at the approaching torrent of energy and the second the energy touched his outstretched hand…

The Roar vanished.

Natsu's eyes widened at the utter obliteration of one of his strongest attacks. "W-wha?" Was all Natsu got out before Zero launched at him at supersonic speeds and drove his fist right into Natsu's stomach, causing the Dragon Slayer to hack before being launched into the pillar behind him, which Brain followed up by raising his hands out in front of him.

" **Dark Rondo!** " Zero called out as a beam of dark energy blasted out of his hands and fired into the pillar where Natsu laid prone, blasting him across the room while he yelled out in pain, while Zero cackled with glee. "Yes, fly, fly little dragon!" Zero called out as he prepared another Dark Rondo, only for Natsu to yell out his own attack in return.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Dreadnaught!** " Natsu yelled out as he launched himself off of a pillar midair, and launched himself right at Zero in the form of a devastating headbutt whilst covered in the signature blue energy, only for Zero to calmly raise his hand again at Natsu and waited for him to approach.

And to grab Natsu by his head and slam him into the ground the second he reached him, causing a yell of pain and confusion from the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer . Zero broke out into maniacal laughter at Natsu's pain as he stomped on Natsu's head and then kicked the Dragon Slayer backwards, sending Natsu sprawling onto the stone behind him.

"You foolish little dragon! Did you honestly I would allow Brain to keep a demon like you so close to me without some sort of leash? Brain's scoured ancient archives on Dragon Slayer magic, and figured out the cure to your branch." Zero cackled with glee as Natsu's eyes widened.

"No way…" Natsu gasped out at Zero who continued to laugh. _I may just have to..._

"I can dispel every single one of your Apocalypse Dragon attacks little boy!" Zero called out as he calmly sauntered over to Natsu and picked up up by the throat. "Every single one of Brain's fears in you were completely misplaced. He may not have mastered the dispellations, but I certainly have! And now, you lie powerless in front of me!" Zero cackled as his hand began to glow a dark green, a sure sign of an upcoming point blank Dark Rondo.

"Good to know… you… feared me." Natsu spat with a defiant glare in Zero, and Zero almost took a step back at the look in Natsu's eyes. The look of wild animal that was cornered. The look of a man who had nothing left to lose. The look of someone who was not afraid to die if it meant he went down fighting. "C'mon you old sac of shit, give it your best shot." Natsu growled as he spat a glob of blood on Zero's jacket, making Zero narrow his red eyes as he slammed Natsu into the ground and readied his Dark Rondo.

"Say your final goodbye's little dragon, I'll be sending you to go with your 'father' now." Zero snarled as he finished gathering energy in his hands. " **Dark Rondo!** " Zero yelled out as he slammed the spell down on the defenceless Natsu, there was a yell of pain, a bright light, and then nothing.

When the light faded, Zero cackled at the sight in front of him. Bloodied and beaten, lay the near dead Natsu Dragneel, who was fighting the losing battle to stay awake. "I'm impressed brat, you're still alive." Zero cackled. "But now let's send a message to all of your friends." Zero snarled as he linked his own Archive Magic to all of the mages, light or dark, that he could find on this wretched walking city.

* * *

Hibiki stumbled as he felt his Archive Magic getting hijacked, and suddenly the eyes he was looking through were not his own, and he was not in control of his own actions. He had no doubt that the others who he was connected to were feeling the same way he was. His stomach dropped when he saw 'himself' wiping blood off of his hands with his military grade bomber jacket.

"Children of the light!" Hibiki felt himself call out, in a voice that was not his own, but more similar to a distorted version of Brain's voice. "You truly are little fools, you sent the Apocalypse Dragon in the hopes of defeating me, and look where that got him." Zero called out as he turned his vision to the broken figure of Natsu on the ground. Hibiki could feel the shock run through everyone he was connected to, but none more than Erza and Wendy. From Wendy, his (was it even his anymore?) Archive picked up horror and disbelief, and from Erza it picked up disbelief and slight disappointment at the sight of the broken Salamander.

Natsu was simply a mess, he had two open wounds on his forehead alone, and a deep cut that had somehow miraculously missed his eye travelling from his temple to the side of his nose. There were burns all over his bare torso, a chunk of stone was impaled in his stomach, at least two inches in and the familiar mop of salmon hair was almost completely dyed black from the burns and soot from his battle. All in all, Natsu looked like shit.

"And now!" Zero called out. "I'm going to execute him, right in front of all of you." Zero cackled with mad glee as the same knife he threatened Jellal with earlier appeared in his hands and he prepared to bring it down on Natsu, who stared at him with defiance in his eyes. "Any last words?" Zero mockingly asked Natsu, who continued to stare at Zero with resistance.

Natsu's voice was shockingly calm for someone who was about to die. "Close your eyes Wendy, you don't need to see this, and don't open them until Hibiki tells you too." Natsu murmured as he finally closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

Halfway across the deserted city, the little blue girl felt Hibiki's arms blindly make their way around her as he squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out Zero's vision, and cried into Hibiki's torso.

And then, Zero brought the knife down, and a sickening stabbing noise was made. The knife had been lodged right in the middle of Natsu's chest, causing the Dragon Slayer to cry out in pain as he feebly attempted to remove the knife from his sternum, which made Brain cackle with glee as he slowly twisted the blade in Natsu's chest, causing the Dragon Slayer to scream in tortured pain.

Everyone was watching Zero torture Natsu to death.

Natsu grit his teeth as his vision swam at the sight of a knife impaled right in his chest. By some miracle, it had missed both his heart and lungs, but it hurt like a living hell. A similar feeling as to when he was being tossed around in the dark currents near the still hidden Nirvana took over Natsu with a grim determination. _I am not going to die here. Even if I have to use it._

Natsu grunted in pure pain as he swung his arm onto the knife handle and dug his nails into Zero's hand, finding great satisfaction when he saw his death grip draw blood, and causing Zero to curse as he sneered at the Dragon Slayer below him.

"You little shit, you are powerless before me, why are you still fighting?" Zero growled as he ripped the knife out of Natsu's chest, causing the stabbed Dragon Slayer to gasp in pain and Zero raised the bloody knife, ready for a second strike. "Say goodbye you little disgrace." Zero growled as he heard Natsu mutter something. "What was that?" Zero growled at Natsu, who gave him a deadly smirk in response.

"I said… **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!** " Natsu yelled out as he left hand swung up, coated in a beautiful inferno and caught Zero right in the sight of the face, instantly disabling his Archive Magic and sending the insane destroyer flying off of Natsu, who stumbled to his feet and grimaced at his next task.

In the few seconds he had bought himself, Natsu pressed his flaming hand to his chest and grimaced as he self-cauterized his wound.

 _Acnologia, King of the Dragons… my second father… your power proved to be useless… so I must use the power of my first. Igneel, the King of the Fire Dragons._

And with that, Natsu was launched into memory.

* * *

 _Natsu was calmly sleeping against the bright red scales of Igneel, happy to be taking a break from his relentless training, when he felt Igneel stiffen._

" _What is it Igneel?" Natsu asked curiously, wondering what could but the King of the Fire Dragons on edge._

" _ **Impossible…**_ " _Igneel trailed off. "_ _ **He should have never been able to find us…**_ " _  
_" _Who's that Igneel?" Little Natsu asked but his question was ignored._

" _ **Natsu, I have done bad things in the past. Things I am not proud of. It would appear that on this day they might catch up with me. Stay inside this cave until I return, whatever you do, do not step outside the cave until I tell you too okay?**_ " _Igneel ordered, and while some of those words went over Natsu's head, it was in such a strict tone that Natsu was shocked into nodding his head at Igneel let out a furious roar and raced out of his cave and launched into the air._

 _However, curiosity quickly got the best of little Natsu, and he poked his head out of the cave to see a sight he never thought he'd see. Igneel and a jet black Dragon tearing at each other in the air. Igneel roared as he was knocked to the ground by the midnight Dragon's barbed tail, which tore through Igneel's tough hide like it was nothing at all, sending the bleeding King of the Fire Dragons sprawling to the ground, where the black dragon roared victoriously._

" _ **You always were weak Igneel!**_ " _The Black Dragon roared viciously. "_ _ **You turned your back on us the second you were given the chance.**_ "

 _Igneel's voice was diluted, but still audible. "_ _ **I turned my back on you the second you turned into this Acnologia.**_ " _Igneel snarled. "_ _ **Go on, finish me, like you have all of my brothers and sisters.**_ "

 _The now named Acnologia snarled at Igneel. "_ _ **On this day, you shall answer for all the lives of my brothers and sisters you have taken, on this day, we are even in the loss of our families.**_ " _Acnologia snarled at the Red Dragon beneath him as he charged up a breath attack, and then he released it, completely obliterating Igneel's head and shoulders._

" _Igneel!" Natsu couldn't help from crying out, which drew the attention of Acnologia, who, as Natsu now noticed, had blue stripes running up and down his body._

" _ **So, he decided to raise another Slayer,**_ " _Acnologia mused as he slithered towards Natsu. "_ _ **He killed the last one he raised, you know**_ " _Acnologia informed Natsu as the Black Dragon stood tall and proud. However, when the Dragon of the Apocalypse looked down on the small boy, who couldn't have been more than 3, he felt a twinge of sympathy. He looked exactly as he had when the Dragons had taken his family away from him 400 years ago._

" _Ig-Igneel.." Natsu muttered sadly as he started at his father's corpse, but Acnologia's words had rung true. Killed the last Dragon Slayer he had raised? Igneel was always a little tough on Natsu, but did he intend to kill him?_

 _Acnologia stared down at the small child, unable to put his finger on why he seemed so damn familiar. Cursing himself for his softness, Acnologia forced himself to do something he hadn't done in decades. He transformed himself back into a human in order to get a better look at the small child._

 _That certainly got Natsu's attention. Where there had once been a Dragon, there was now a tall man with long light blue hair and blue tribal tattoos all across his body, and was frowning as he looked over Natsu._

" _Woah! You're not a Dragon!" Natsu called out as he stumbled backwards._

" _Maybe not." Acnologia mused, his voice considerably quieter now that he was human again, "Yet you and I are still similar, we are both Dragon Slayers."_

" _Y-you're a Dragon Slayer?" Natsu stuttered out._

 _Acnologia sighed as he nodded his head. "You must understand young one, Igneel may have been nice to you now, but in the past, he burnt down towns and slaughtered families all because he was a Dragon and we were humans. So I've made it my mission to hunt down all the remaining Dragons like him." Acnologia growled._

I-igneel was b-bad? _Natsu thought confusedly._

 _Acnologia cursed himself for feeling himself giving way to the look of utter betrayal upon the discovery of what the dragon that had raised him for maybe a year truly was. Seeing an opportunity with the now orphaned Dragon Slayer, Acnologia made a claim. "I supposed I could train you, turn you into a stronger Dragon Slayer than I could ever hope to be." Acnologia stated, which wasn't a lie either. He could feel the untapped power rolling off the boy in waves, a fine mineral waiting to be tapped into._

" _Why would you?" Little Natsu muttered bitterly "You just killed dad."  
_ " _I killed a threat." Acnologia defended "And I can make sure that you'll be strong enough to to the same." At the word strong, Natsu's eyes widened and focused on Acnologia._

" _Strong." Little Natsu slowly repeated the word, before nodding slowly. "I go with you, train with you, and become stronger than you so I avenge my dad!" Little Natsu shouted victoriously, causing Acnologia to sigh. He could teach the boy the errors of the Dragons later, if it meant he could prevent someone who was blind to their atrocities claiming to have one as a father_

" _I guess that works, let us be off then…" Acnologia trailed off as he looked expectantly at the boy._

" _Natsu." He boldly claimed, although the faint tear stains on his cheeks proved him to be not as strong as he sounded, good at hiding his emotions yes, but strong no._

" _Very well then Natsu, your journey to become stronger than me begins now." Acnologia said as he walked away from the pinkette, causing the little boy to scramble to his feet, shoot one last glance at the headless corpse of the Dragon that had raised him for the past year, before scrambling off after Acnologia._

He never had become stronger than Acnologia, he never had avenged Igneel. That's why he never used if Fire Magic. Natsu growled at himself for using it even now. He knew full and well that he had no right to use the **Fire Dragon Magic** until he had bested his second father, Acnologia, and restored Igneel's honor. However, he wouldn't be alive to best Acnologia if he didn't use it now, so he was left with no choice.

Natsu let a feral growl escape his throat as he felt the forgotten warmth of being enveloped in the flames of the Dragon King return to him once more, with a predatory glare, he stared down Zero who was just now getting to his feet, now sporting a nasty second degree burn on the side of his face.

"I'm all fired up…" Natsu growled viciously as he launched himself at Zero. The true battle had begun.

* * *

 **Holy Crap I am sorry for disappearing for two months. My bad, I'm sorry. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter, and honestly, who saw that coming? Let's face it, Acnologia is kinda out for revenge against the Dragons in Fairy Tail, so I had him kill Igneel, and take in Natsu in the hopes that he could convince him to to the same. But then why'd Acnologia leave…? Well that's an answer for another Chapter, so as always, I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought!**

 **Oh yeah and there's a new poll up since people seem to want Natsu paired with more than just Ultear, so I'm debating adding Erza in to, vote on what you want please, it would help me out.**

 **See ya around,**

 _ **~Solo**_


	7. Fall of an Immortal

_**I'll admit right here, this chapter get's a little dull at the end, it turns into more of a filler with a couple of plot points, but enjoy anyways, and lemme know what you thought.**_

* * *

Zero's eyes narrowed dangerously on the now ablaze Dragon Slayer, who had a grin that would make the devil shiver on his face. Brain had no information on the Dragon Slayer also obtaining Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, but no matter, he would still crush him.

"So… you can light yourself on fire." Zero snorted, "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

Natsu's demonic grin seemed to grow wider at the statement. "Impressed?" Natsu asked, his voice maintaining a dangerous edge. "No, you're not supposed to be impressed, you're terrified."

Zero blinked at the statement, and tried to deny the truth that had been spoken. The Fire Dragon magic was easily far more dangerous than the Apocalypse Dragon in this scenario because Zero had no idea what the Fire Dragon was capable of. Zero hated unknowns, and the new power displayed was full of them.

Natsu cracked his neck and stretched his arms, wincing slightly at the now cauterized wound in his chest. He was going to need a doctor if he wanted that to heal properly, but that was a problem for later. "Well come on now old man, are we going to stand around, or are we going to fight?" Natsu asked with a sick grin as he vanished from Zero's sight, causing Zero's eyes to widen.

Zero was once again made aware of Natsu's presence when he felt a devastating uppercut connect with his Jaw and send him tumbling back, which led to the laughter of the Dragon Slayer.

"What happened to all that tough talk of squashing me like a bug!" Natsu called out as he watched Zero stand up, growling as he did so.

"Die you little pest! **Dark Rondo!** " Zero yelled as he brought his hands together and fired a blast of green energy at Natsu, who calmly stepped sideways, letting the beam fly by him as Natsu rushed Zero once again and lit his feet ablaze as he ran.

" **Fire Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu yelled as he swung his feet in an arc at Zero, making the Guildmaster grunt as he caught one foot, but only for the other to catch him in the side of the neck, forcing him to let go of Natsu's foot at once, and forcing him to stumble to the side cursing as he felt the skin on his neck blister from the heat. They both were going to need a Doctor when the victor was crowned.

Natsu frowned at the fact that Zero was still conscious. If he was using his **Apocalypse Dragon Slayer Magic** the crazed Guildmaster would be down and out. Natsu supposed it was due to the fact that his **Fire Dragon Slayer** spells simply weren't as brutally strong as his Apocalypse Dragon spells. Apparently Fire Dragons do not follow the term float like a butterfly sting like a bee. Beautiful as his flames may be, Natsu still greatly prefered the sheer power behind his Apocalyptic techniques.

" **Dark Capriccio!** " Zero yelled as he quickly turned around and a beam of twirling green and red erupted from his hands and slammed nearly point blank into Natsu, lifting him up off his feet as he was blasted backwards and made a sizable crater in the wall behind him, which Natsu groaned as he flew back out of it at Zero with his body ablaze.

" **Fire Dragon's Sword Horn** " Natsu yelled out as this time the devastating headbutt connected, knocking spittle out of Zero's mouth as he was rocket backwards, which Natsu left him with no chance to recover before pressing his advantage. Drawing the Katana from his back for the first time in the fight, Natsu growled out his next spell. " **Fire Dragon's Burning Slash** " And with those words, the same dangerously beautiful flames that surrounded Natsu spread to the blade and Natsu slashed viciously at Zero, causing an arc of fire to escape from the blade and launch itself at Zero, who cried out as he was torched by the flames, as Natsu pressed his advantage again. This fight wasn't about knocking the other opponent unconscious, it was to the death.

This time relying on pure swordplay, Natsu sprinted toward Zero and swung horizontally at the crazed guildmaster in the hopes of disemboweling him, but Zero managed to take a step back in time and only received a minor cut along his stomach, but the burning blade did make the bomber jacket to briefly catch fire. Causing Zero to yelp and pat out the flames, Natsu grinned as he stabbed his katana in the ground and vaulted himself over it, bringing his feet both down on Zero's skull with a satisfying _Crack_ as Zero was forced straight into the ground.

"Enough!" Zero bellowed as he swiped at Natsu's legs, his arms alight with the harsh green energy, knicking the Dragon Slayer's right ankle and successfully driving him back for just a moment. "I am the Superior here! I will not be mocked by the likes of you and longer!" Zero shouted as dark purple energy began to form in his hands. "It ends here Dragneel!" Zero yelled out, referring to Natsu by his name for the first time in the fight. " **Genesis Zero!** " Zero roared as he threw his hands forward, and the purple energy blasted outwards. Taking the shape of many ghostly figures, the apparitions raced towards Natsu, who growled at the incoming challenge, sheathing his blade, he shouted out his next attack..

" **Fire Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu shouted out as a pillar of flames rushed from his mouth and met the Genesis Zero head on, resulting a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Natsu's mouth returned into a grin at the shattered attack in front of him. A few stray ghosts of the Genesis Zero still lingered before disappearing to the flames that claimed them.  
Zero's mouth had dropped open. That was one of his most powerful attacks and it had been completely and utterly destroyed by a single attack. How powerful was the annoying Salamander in front of him?

Wasting no time for Zero to recollect himself, Natsu launched himself forward, and took a risk in the process. Zero was distracted, so if he did this right, he could land the first attack he felt familiar with in the entire battle.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Deadly Fang!** " Natsu called out as the flames on his hands sputtered out and were replaced by the blue energy from before. Zero grunted as he was jarred back into reality by the twin bludgeons that were Natsu's hands slamming into both of his sides before Natsu delivered a jaw shattering knee to the chin, sending Zero backwards, clutching his mouth in pain.

Spitting out blood, Zero growled at the once again approaching Dragon Slayer, who had lit his hands ablaze once again, knowing that the same attack would now be useless. " **Dark Capriccio!** " Zero yelled at he released the beam point blank into the sprinting Natsu, forcing Natsu to his knees in the attempts to block the attack, only to be met with a cross chop to the temple from Zero, making Natsu stumble and Zero to press his advantage. " **Dark Rondo** " Zero called out as the multiple dark beams of green energy all closed in on Natsu and blasted him across the chamber. Quick to recover, Natsu growled as he completely lit himself ablaze and let out a monstrous roar as he charged Zero once again, causing the dark mage to wince at the sound, giving Natsu just the brief opportunity to land a successful uppercut to the bottom of the already injured chin, causing Zero to cry out in pain as he felt his feet leave the ground once more in the fight.

" **Fire Dragon's Claw** " Natsu yelled as he leaped up after Zero and swung his flaming foot into Zero's chest, sending the guildmaster of the Oración Seis rocketing to the ground where Natsu plummeted towards him, his bloodlust never fading. " **Fire Dragon's Blazing Rage** " Natsu chanted as a pillar of fire launched from his hands, forming into the head of a Dragon that looked suspiciously like a fiery Acnologia, before it crashed onto his downed opponent.

Landing in a crouched position, Natsu stumbled as he felt the magical drain on him finally kick in as the adrenaline began to run out. He was running low on his recently regained magic, he needed to end this soon. Luckily for Natsu, the last little combo of his had packed quite the punch, and Zero was struggling to get to his feet, glaring at Natsu all the while.

"You, insignificant little brat" Zero spat as he shakily stood up and tried to charge a spell. Natsu narrowed his eyes as he fearlessly stalked towards Zero, embers leaping up from his feet as Natsu prepared to finish the fight.

" **Dark Capriccio!** " Zero yelled as released a far weaker version of the previous spell at the advancing Dragon Slayer, who was more than prepared.

" **Fire Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu growled as he spun and kicked Zero's attack out of the air, sending the beam spiralling into the wall where the stones exploded upon impact, the shower of rubble causing Zero to flinch slightly and giving Natsu the opening he needed. Taking a deep breath, from a mere 5 feet away, Natsu unleashed the finisher. " **Fire Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu shouted as the pillar of flames blasted Zero clean off his feet and into the wall, where the guildmaster didn't stand up. Natsu growled at the downed form of Zero before stalking over to his unconscious form and igniting his feet, making sure that he had permanently eliminated the threat, and so there were no witnesses of this fight other than himself. " **Fire Dragon's Claw,** " Natsu growled as he swung his feet around, nailing Zero in the neck and giving off a sickening crunch before the once guildmaster of the Oración Seis was no more. Natsu fell to his knees as the adrenaline finally left his body and the magical drain on his body finally reared it's head.

 _It's finally over… all thanks to you Igneel. When Acnologia failed me, you still came to save my ass, even from beyond the grave. Damn old lizard._ Natsu thought as he finally let the flames recede back inside him, and felt the familiar chaos of his Apocalypse magic take it's place once again.

It would be a long time before Natsu would willingly use the arts of the Fire Dragon again, he still had his overall promise to keep. Defeat his second father, Acnologia, regain Igneel's honor, and then he would allow himself to use the fire magic as he pleased. Until then, it was harbinger of the Apocalypse for him.

Natsu gasped as he stumbled, having reopened Zero's little gift to him in the form of a stab wound, and noticing the piece of rubble that had made it's home in his ribs. Gritting his teeth, Natsu quickly tore out the jagged rock and cauterized the wounds before weakly reaching out to Hibiki. _If you're listening you pretty boy piece of crap, I wrapped up here, let's destroy some god damned Lacrimas._

Natsu could feel the shock as Hibiki responded. _You're alive?! How in the name of- you know what, you can explain later. Yes, let's destroy the Lacrimas. Go nuts Salamander._ Hibiki thought as a weak grin made it's way onto his face as Natsu's hand began to glow the familiar harsh blue, and Natsu chucked several blue projectiles as the central lacrima in the chamber, shattering it instantly, and at the same time, Natsu felt 5 other explosions rock Nirvana, stopping the walking city dead in it's tracks, before the structure began to crumble.

 _Oh that's just god fucking perfect._ Natsu growled to himself as he sidestepped a falling stone. _It is quite literally falling apart._ Gritting his teeth, Natsu drew from the small amount of magic he had remaining and glowed bright blue before vanishing from the nightmare that was Nirvana.

* * *

Erza did a headcount when everyone had finally regrouped and would never admit to anyone that she was beyond worried when Natsu was not amongst everyone present. All of the light mages had made it off of Nirvana relatively unharmed minus the occasion scratch or magical exhaust, so Erza supposed she was thankful for that. However the missing Dragon Slayer still tugged at her subconscious. The last they had seen of him he had just been stabbed in the chest and was telling Wendy to look away so she wouldn't see him die. The forced vision via Zero's archive was cut out when they saw Natsu nail Zero in the side of the head.

They had no idea how the battle went down from there. Apparently Natsu had won, against all odds, according to Hibiki. However, if he made it out of the crumbling city after that was still unknown. And as if Jellal was reading Erza's mind, he voiced the unasked question.

"Do we think that he's alright?" Jellal asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The mages heads snapped to Jellal, wondering why on earth he was asking about Natsu's safety.

Gray apparently decided to keep beating around the bush on the subject. "You're gonna have to be more specific Jellal, who the hell's 'he'?" The either poorly informed or in denial Gray asked.

Jellal gave Gray a blank stare. "Natsu Dragneel, the 'dark mage' who just fought Zero for all of you." Jellal's blunt words had an effect on the allied mages. Some nursing wounded prides that they had to rely on a wounded, untrustworthy, dark mage to help them finish the job since they were not strong enough, others relieved that the threat had been dealt with, and some beyond worried that Natsu may have perished in the rubble that was once Nirvana.

A brief flash of blue and a tired, yet sarcastic reply got their attention. "While I'm glad you all think so highly of me, can we not speak like we're at my funeral." Came the voice of Natsu Dragneel, who had clearly seen better days, but was still standing. All of the mages could only stare at the mage who had taken on the titan that was Zero and not only survived, but won.

Not one mage moved for a good thirty seconds making Natsu raise an eyebrow. "Am I invisible and inaudible?" He questioned mostly to himself, but the underlying sarcasm was unmissable. Yes indeed, Natsu Dragneel had survived. Wendy was the first one to react, launching herself at Natsu and wrapping the confused Dragon Slayer in a hug that made him groan out in surprise. "Easy on the ribs there Wendy," groaned Natsu as Happy yelled out in joy and flew over to Natsu, only to land on his head and begin to take a nap, making Natsu roll his eyes. Cat naps, who knew.

Wendy let out a small squeak and let of of Natsu, gasping when she saw the full extend of his wounds. "You're hurt!" she cried out, "Let me heal you." Alas, just as her hands started to glow with her Sky Dragon Magic, Natsu calmly stopped her.

"You've used far too much magic today, as have I. I need a god damned vacation." Natsu muttered as he glanced down at his wounds once again. "Besides, I'm not that messed up." He said with a dismissive shrug, causing the white cat Natsu now knew as Carla agree with him.

"I have been telling you all day not to use too much magic child, am I the only one here with any common sense?" Carla cried out, making Natsu snort at the cat and politely decline Wendy's offer again. Erza snorted at what she supposed could be called an agreement between the cat and dragon. Natsu raised an eyebrow and met her gaze fearlessly. "Somethin' you want to say Titania?"

Erza rolled her eyes at him. "Let the girl heal you Salamander, she's had time to recuperate and you're about to drop." Erza ordered Natsu, who gave her a small grin.

"Now you're concerned about my health? Didn't stop you from running me through with a sword earlier." Natsu taunted as Erza's face flushed with embarrassment and slight horror.

"That was an accident." She mumbled.

"Not to side with the villain here, but the stab did look pretty purposeful Erza." Lucy chimed in, causing Erza to narrow her eyes dangerously at Lucy who squeaked out an apology at the look, making Lyon and Gray laugh at Lucy's expense.

"Oh lighten up my dear, we have achieved a great feat on this day! The parfume is simply wonderful!" Ichiya cried out as Erza flinched at him drawing near her and smacked him across the small clearing they had gathered in on reflex, causing the Three Trimens to call out.

"Master!" "Teacher!" "Sir!"

"They really do need to pick a title for him." Natsu muttered to Lucy, who nodded whole heartedly, happy that someone agreed on the thought that the multiple titles of Ichiya was not only weird, but slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm still going to heal you." Wendy told Natsu with a determined look in her eyes as her hands began to glow again and she pressed them to his wounded torso. " **Sky Dragon's Healing Light** ," Wendy muttered softly as the wounds on Natsu's chest began to sew themselves back together, bruises began to fade, and the skin returned to it's normal color. When the task was done, Natsu didn't look good as new, in fact he still looked like he had lost a fight with someone who used a blunt mace as a weapon, but he no longer sustained any serious injuries.

Giving himself a once over, Natsu was still amazed by the power of the small girl in front of him. "I swear you are going to be the most powerful mage here in a couple years." Natsu muttered to Wendy, who flushed and denied the claim repeatedly, before noticing a small object sticking out of the back of Natsu's forearm. It was a dark midnight blue and was shaped suspiciously like a Dragon scale, but Natsu caught Wendy looking and hid his arm from her sight before she could ask a question.

"So… what now?" Lyon asked as he looked over all of the mages present. Making most of them shrug at the question, the truth being that they simply had no idea what to do now. Natsu openly voiced his unknowing.

"I don't know to be honest. I've lived as a dark mage for a good portion of my life, now that part of my life is apparently over, I have no clue what to do." Natsu said as his gaze became starry and his eyes unfocused.

Lucy was quick to provide an answer. "You should join Fairy Tail!" She shouted out, before realizing what she was asking and flushed bright red. "I-I mean you could if you wanted to, I'm sure that the people in our guild would welcome you with open ar-" Lucy rambled on before Erza cut her off.

"You're rambling." Was all Erza said to shut Lucy up. "But what she said still stands. You proved here today that you can be trusted amongst light mages, and Fairy Tail has plenty of wizards with troubled pasts, I'm sure we could welcome you with open arms." Erza told Natsu with a soft smile on her face, causing Natsu to frown slightly at the offer, not that anyone noticed.

"I dunno, I think he should join Lamia Scale, after all, Sherry and I are both former criminals, he'd fit right in." Lyon remarked, sending a smile at Natsu, who rolled his eyes at another offer.

"Nonsense! The Salamander should join Blue Pegasus, I am sure he would make a wonderful fourth member of the Trimen!" Ichiya exclaimed, making Natsu flinch at the idea of working with Hibiki, Ren and Eve for an extended period of time.

"Wouldn't that make them the Quadmen?" Gray asked, amusement clear in his voice, the glare he received from Natsu told him he wasn't being helpful.

"Umm.. maybe you could consider joining Caitshelter?" Wendy asked timidly, causing Carla to erupt into a full blown rant.

"Absolutely not! Wendy! He is a dangerous man! Just because he helped us here does not mean that-" was as far as Carla got before Natsu blatantly punted her across the clearing, waking Happy up and having the blue cat take off after her.

"That's enough of that." Natsu remarked as he watched the white cat soar, causing a few of the mages to break into laughter at the flying cat, and others to only roll their eyes at Natsu. "And nice as you all are, I think I'm gonna roll solo for a while. I've got a dragon to find after all." Natsu remarked as he cracked his neck and adjusted his sword on his back before turning to the light mages one last time, a sad smile on his face and happiness in his eyes. "I never thanked all of you for giving me a chance. I know most of you didn't trust me at first, so thank you for putting your prejudice aside and working alongside me." Natsu stated as he waved the mages farewell. "I'm gonna head out now, I can't let Acnologia get any more of a head start." Natsu said with a small grin as he turned around to leave, but Wendy ran in front of him to stop him.

"W-wait! Will we ever see you again?" She asked timidly, making Natsu smile as he patted her on the head, making Wendy smile a little bit.

"I'll make sure to visit. Keep out of trouble Wendy." Natsu said with a smile as he headed off into the woods, to begin his search for his second father figure in his life. A myriad of good-byes were called in his way, making Natsu grin even wider as he waved to the light mages as he disappeared into the foliage, and from sight.

Gray let out a small snort as Natsu disappeared from sight, drawing Erza's attention. "What?" she asked, making Gray let out a small chuckle.

"I just find it funny that over the course of one day, this guy went from our enemy from our ally, and we offered to let him join Fairy Tail." Gray said with amusement clear in his voice, making Erza smile and shake her head.

"We've experienced weirder, remember when Elfman first started preaching about being manly?" Erza said with a nostalgic tone, making Gray let out a chuckle.

"'Course I do, all he did was yell MAN for like three days." Gray chuckled. "God, I must've been like 12 when he did that."  
"It was a long time ago wasn't it?" Erza noted as her eyes scanned the forest and widened when they saw a platoon of soldiers walking towards them, with an abnormally fortified wagon in tow. Gray apparently saw them too and couldn't help but mutter "They're a bit late to the party aren't they?"

"Halt!" ordered the commander of the troops when they got within speaking distance. The entire platoon froze at the order, but still stood at attention.

"Evenin' officer." Gray said, the amusement quickly disappearing from his voice. "We just finished up with some business, and we all want to go home so please make it quick. What do you want?"

"My name is Lahar." The commander said with narrowed eyes. "And what we want, quite simply, is him." the man now known as Lahar said as he gestured to Jellal, who only raised an eyebrow in response.

"On what grounds." Erza growled out towards the army commander, and was delighted to see him shiver just a tad. However, he carried on none the less.

"Several cases of Political Corruption, Infiltration of the Magic Council, Terrorism, and manipulative use of the Etherion Cannon." Lahar listed off like he had memorized his lines.

"Oh that's a load of crap." Hibiki called out to the army commander. "The guy's without a memory, he doesn't remember doing any of that."

"Ignorance to one's crimes does not equal justice being served" Lahar shot back. "Are you going to hand him over peacefully or are we going to have to take him from you?"  
"I would like to see you try." Erza growled as all she requipped a sword and the other Fairy Tail mages followed her lead, Elfman transforming his arm, Gray reading an **Ice-Make Lance** , and Lucy with her hand on Taurus' gate key.

"No, no need for violence." Came Jellal's calm voice, making Erza widen her eyes in shock. "I'll surrender peacefully." Jellal said as he made his way over to the army commander and held out his wrists.

"Wh-what? Why?!" Erza demanded, and only gained a small, yet sad smile from Jellal in return.

"According to most of the people here, I've done terrible things, and the man is right, ignorance to one's crimes does not create innocence, I will willingly accept punishment for what I've done." Jellal said as the army slapped a pair of magic-restricting handcuffs on him and loaded him into the back of their prison wagon. The commander gave Jellal an uneasy look before turning back to the Fairy Tail mages with a response.

"By surrendering peacefully, he will avoid the death penalty, so if you so desire, you may visit him in prison." The cold commander stated as he ordered his men to move out once again, and this time taking Jellal with them.

Erza's eyes widened and she felt the tears threaten to spill down her face. Taking a deep breath and one last glance at the fleeing cart, Erza walked into the forest with the small excuse of 'I need some time to think.'

* * *

However, to one hidden person in the trees, it was obvious she was going to need more help than just thinking. Natsu frowned as he watched the whole arrest. While the whole arrest was technically completely just and legal, it still rubbed him the wrong way that all of the Oración Seis and Jellal were getting arrested and he just managed to get off scot free. Did that make him a fugitive? Probably, was Erza in a lot of pain after seeing Jellal taken away? Natsu didn't know why, but he was sure of it.

* * *

Natsu sighed as he silently tailed the redheaded fairy queen. He really needed to stop comforting people. Both Acnologia and Igneel would have laughed at him for it.

Erza tried to keep her crying as quiet as possible as she sat at the top of a cliff face. It just wasn't fair to her. She finally got her old friend back after years of possession and months of thinking him dead, only to see him taken away right before her very eyes, and she was powerless to stop it. Unable to keep the tears at bay again, another pitiful sob wracked it's way out of Erza's throat as she laid her head in her hands and wept.

Erza stiffened as she heard a sigh and someone sitting down next to her. She looked through the cracks in her fingers to see Natsu smiling sadly at her. "I saw what happened… I'm sorry." Natsu said as Erza whimpered at the memory of her friend being taken away. It just wasn't fair.

Natsu sighed as he saw the broken Titania in front of him. He didn't like this side of her at all. He was used to the proud and powerful Titania who destroyed anyone who got in her path, not the scared little girl who just had her old best friend taken away. Natsu made a small mental promise then and there to make sure that he never saw Erza this low again. But that meant that he had to start building her up again.

Natsu sighed as he pulled the crying Erza into his chest, feeling her stiffen before she let out another sob, wrapping her arms around Natsu in the process and sobbing into his chest. "It's not fair." she chanted over and over as Natsu calmly held Erza to his chest and watched the night sky. He knew it wasn't fair, he also knew that he was acting completely out of character, and he also knew that he just couldn't bring himself to care.

"I know how you feel." Natsu muttered to Erza lightly, making Erza look up to Natsu with tears still in her eyes. "You feel abandoned." Natsu continued lightly. "I know the feeling. I lost my… father a long time ago, and I felt completely lost. Then I was taken in by Acnologia and I felt like I finally found my father again.. only for Acnologia to disappear into thin air." Natsu explained to Erza who had momentarily stopped crying to listen to Natsu. "I felt beyond abandoned. I spent weeks wondering what I had did wrong, and how I could make it up to him." Natsu chuckled. "And no matter what I tried, the damned lizard never came back." Natsu concluded as he looked down as the saddened Erza.

"So in short I know how you feel." Natsu said as he gazed at the stars, "And in short, it never truly gets easier, but I can only tell you to not bear the pain alone." Natsu said as he looked back down at Erza. "That's what I did, not look at me, I've got blood on my hands that can never be removed, the name _Salamander_ is feared all throughout the kingdom, and my bounty is somewhere around 7 million jewel. Dealing with the pain alone never works Erza, so don't do what I did." Natsu concluded as Erza stared up at him in wonder.

Literally less than 12 hours ago Erza had stabbed him in the stomach and now he was giving her advice on how to deal with the loss of her friend. Erza muttered out a small thank you as she tiredly rested her head on Natsu's shoulder, making Natsu chuckled as he pulled her close to him. Erza happily rested her head on Natsu without a care in the world until she noticed something black looking on Natsu's arm. It looked like he had scales growing out of her skin.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Erza voiced her question. "What is that?" Erza said, pointing to the scale like objects on Natsu's arm. Natsu visibly sagged at the question, but answered anyways.

"Acnologia lived by a rule when he was teaching me. _Sometimes in order to defeat the monsters that threaten our loved ones, we need to become those monsters_." Natsu slowly explained to Erza, who scrunched her eyes in confusion.

"But the only monsters your magic is used for dealing with is… dragons" Erza finished weakly as she understood what Natsu meant.

"Acnologia saw it fit for my training to result in my achieving the ultimate form of Dragon Slayer magic." Natsu said as he gazed at the stars once again. "He wanted me to become a Dragon."

Erza visibly stiffened as the revelation. "D-dragon?"

Natsu sent her a small smile. "The process is called Dragonification, and it only speeds up every time I use my magic." Natsu explained with a small smile. "My fate's been sealed since the beginning."

Erza began rapidly shaking her head, trying to convince herself that the man who had just comforted her was not going to change into some beast by simply living his life.

"I suppose it could be worse though." Natsu muttered, "I could have found a mate or two before turning, now that would be painful." Natsu grimaced at the thought. He couldn't stand the thought of making someone he loved turn into a dragon.

"How are you so calm about this?" Erza asked as she stared at her feet which swayed over the cliff side, Natsu snorted in response.

"I came to terms with it years ago. I don't want it to happen at all, but if that's my fate then so be it." Natsu said as he stood up and offered his hand. "C'mon, the others are probably worried about you… Erza." Natsu said with a small smile as he helped Erza up, who gave him a timid smile in return.

"I thank you for your help.. Natsu." Erza said with a smile, which quickly turned serious. "But if you tell anyone I was crying I will end you."  
Natsu merely raised an eyebrow at the threat. "Then the same goes for me going Dragon mode over here. Erza reluctantly agreed, and so they set off.

* * *

The next few hours were a blur for Natsu, the group, of course was shocked to see Natsu again, but thanked him for bringing Erza back, and the allied guilds split up, with Fairy Tail headed to drop Wendy off at Cait Shelter before heading their separate ways. Upon arriving, the mages were shocked to learn that Cait Shelter was actual a fake guild, which the ancient Guildmaster finally revealed that he had been keeping up strong illusion charms to make Wendy happy for years, before the old man disappeared from this world.

Wendy's eyes welled up with tears as she saw her family disappear all around her. "No! Please! Don't Go!" Wendy desperately cried out as she tried to reach out to her family that was vanishing before her eyes, before collapsing to her knees and sobbing as the last of her guild vanished, along with her guild mark from her shoulder.

Natsu wasted no time in scooping the little girl up in a hug, shocking most of the mages (minus Erza, who already knew he had a soft side) into silence as Natsu held the small girl in an embrace.

"It'll be okay Wendy." Natsu murmured into the bluenette's ear. "It hurts now but it'll get better." Natsu whispered calmly to Wendy, as she sobbed into Natsu's shoulder before eventually passing out from exhausting in his arms. Natsu frowned as he picked up the exhausted Wendy and handed her over to Erza.

"I'd prefer to keep watch over her, but where I'm going to look for Acnologia, she cannot follow. I'm trusting Fairy Tail with her safety, can you promise me that?" Natsu asked with a dead serious look on his face, which Erza nodded to almost immediately.

"She'll be safe with Fairy Tail."

Gray snorted at Natsu's sudden protectiveness of Wendy. "What are you, her father?" He asked, only to receive a death glare from Natsu.

"We are not related by blood, but she's already suffered too much pain in her heart. First her mother abandoned her and now her entire family dies. I am trying to prevent a heartbroken little girl." Natsu shot back at Gray, who flinched before nodding.

Natsu sighed as he stood up and adjusted his sword once again. "This is where I say farewells Fairy Tail. I'll visit Wendy when I can, so keep the door open for me okay?" Natsu said with a small smile on his face as he turned away from the mages, having only received nods in response to his question.

A small smile made it's way onto Natsu's face at the sight of the sleeping Sky Dragon Slayer. "Goodbye Wendy" Natsu said as he vanished in a flash of blue. The remaining mages smiled at the obvious brotherly feelings that Natsu was feeling for Wendy, even if he wouldn't admit it, and started the trek back home to Fairy Tail.

* * *

 _ **AAAAAND CUT. So that wraps up the Nirvana arc and holy crap that was 6k words in… less than a week, I dunno, cut me some slack. I know it may have gotten a little sappy towards end, but that's just how it played out. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, lemme know what you thought, and have a fantastic day**_

 _ **~Solo**_


	8. The Return

Things had quieted down since Nirvana's fall. Wendy had joined Fairy Tail as of Natsu's request and was healing appropriately. She still missed her family dearly, but was still the happy girl that everyone knew and loved.

Wendy was currently talking to Lucy about her spirits since she knew little to nothing about them, while Erza watched them from a distance with a smile on her face at how the little girl was adapting. She was at home with Fairy Tail.

"So, what type of magic does Leo use?" Wendy asked Lucy, her eyes full of curiosity, making Lucy laugh at the pleading look in her eyes. She rubbed Wendy's head, earning a small squeak from the girl before replying.

"Leo uses **Regulus** magic, meaning that he powers up his fists and can strike his opponents super hard." Lucy explained with a smile on her face as the little girl smiled at the new information.

"That's so cool! I'll have to talk to him about it someti-" Was as far as Wendy got before the loud chiming of bells cut her off, causing everyone in the guildhall to jump, then erupt into cheering at the bells.

"Umm Erza, what's happening?" Lucy called out to the redhead, who smiled at the lost look on Lucy's face. Wendy looked just as confused at Lucy, but never opted to raise her question to Erza, who answered the question without much detail.

"The bell's mean that Gildarts is returning, for the first time in… two years, I believe." Erza said as she scrunched her eyebrows in thought. Was it two years? It had been so long that Erza had lost track.

" **Attention all citizens! Get to your designated safety zones as the Gildarts shift will begin shortly! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!** " A loud voice blared out over a PA system that Lucy and Wendy never knew existed.

"Umm.. what is the Gildarts shift?" Wendy asked, and was immediately answered when she felt the city begin to move from underneath her feet.

"It's so Gildarts doesn't break anything on his way home." Gray called out as his eyes locked onto the front door… area. As if he expected Gildarts to come straight through the wall instead of the door.

The Gildarts Shift is a wonder of engineering to be quite frank. The entire city is moved by pistons and pulleys and whatnot in order to clear a single pathway in order to prevent the legendary Crash Mage from destroying half of the town in his trek back to his guildhall.

Said crash mage could only look curiously at the guildhall at the top of the hill. He rubbed his hand through his slicked back orange hair in confusion. He was used to the pathway back to his guild, but he remembered a small cozy wooden building, not this massive castle that had taken it's place. Confusion clear in the mage, Gildarts scratched his stubble and continued towards the castle. Perhaps someone there could tell him where his old guild moved to. Sighing, Gildarts quickened his pace as best as he could and quickly made his way to the new guildhall.

Deciding to be polite for once, he knocked on the front door when he made his way to the door, and was surprised to see a smiling white haired barmaid open the door for him.

"Gildarts! You're back!" She cheerfully cried out as an even larger smile made it's way onto her face. Gildarts raised an eyebrow at her.

"Umm.. hi. I'm looking for my old guild, it used to be around here somewhere. The name's Fairy Tail?" Gildarts asked the barmaid who giggled at him and led him inside.

"Oh I forgot you weren't here for the reconstruction. Well, to put it simply, this is the new Fairy Tail guildhall Gildarts" the ivory haired girl happily chimed before making her way back behind the bar. "Welcome back!"

An eyebrow was raised. "Do I know you?"

A giggle was the response. "Silly Gildarts, it's me, Mirajane!" Mira happily told Gildarts as Gray raced over to Gildarts and Erza calmly followed him.

Shock quickly took over Gildarts' features. "Mira?! You look so different from when you did two years ago!" Gildarts cried out, only for Gray to interrupt him.

"Hey you crazy old man, don't tell me you forgot about the rest of us!" Gray called out as he send a flurry of iced lances at Gildarts, who disintegrated them on instinct with a smile on his face.

"Gray! Erza! It's been too long!" The Crash Mage called out as he gave both of them a hug, and heard an old man clear his throat. Looking up to the upper floors, Gildarts saw Master Makarov, a small old man, smiling down at him.

"It has been too long old friend, perhaps you'll stay around for more than a week this time?" Makarov asked Gildarts, amusement clear in his tone, making the Crash Mage scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "So, anyways, how did your mission go?" The master asked his student, who gave a sheepish grin in response.

"Yeah… I kinda failed." Was the embarrassed response, making half of the guild choke on their drinks, and the other half spit theirs out. Gildarts had failed a mission?! Impossible!

"You failed?" Was Makarov's confused response, and it invoked a sigh from Gildarts who nodded to his master.

"Yeah, I kinda ran into some trouble that took my arm and leg, along with my appendix." Gildarts responded as he revealed his new prosthetics to the Guild, who were sunk even further into shock. Someone had maimed Gildarts? That was possible?

A growl made it's way from Makarov's throat at the thought of any of his children being in pain. "And, pray tell, who did this too you…" Makarov asked dangerously to Gildarts, who sobered up quickly at the master's look.

"Not who, what." Was Gildarts' cryptic response.

"What? What do you mean by 'what'?" Makarov asked with raised eyebrows. So it wasn't a dark mage that maimed his most promising candidate to be his successor. What was then naturally powerful enough to leave Gildarts in such a state. A Dragon, sure, but those had been extinct for thousands of yea-

"A black dragon." Gildarts responded. Well there goes that train of thought. "It was as big as a mountain and my attacks didn't do jack shit to it. It took my arm, leg, and appendix and left me for dead." Gildarts finished with a somber look on his face.

Erza, Gray, Lucy and Wendy, along with their cat partners. A Black Dragon did that to Gildarts? Did that mean that Gildarts' had encountered Acnologia… and lived?

"Gildarts… that Dragon wouldn't happen to be named Acnologia, would it?" Erza asked Gildarts, who scrunched his eyebrows in thought.

"I think that's what the locals called it. I really should've listened to them. They called it a more than just some dragon, they called it a demon. Now I figured that it was just some Wyvern that I was supposed to exterminate, which I can do in my sleep." Gildarts said. "But man was I wrong, the damn dragon took one look at me, shrugged off all my attacks like it was nothing, and took one swipe at me before leaving me for dead." Gildarts explained, his tale gathering the attention of everyone in the guild, before a gruff voice spoke up.

"That's because you need to use Dragon Slayer Magic in order to hurt a dragon." came the voice of a man with metal studs implanted all along his eyebrows and nose. His hair was incredibly long and trailed down his back, and contrasted with his bright red eyes.

Gildarts raised his eyebrow at the gruff looking man. "You must be new here, what's your name?" Gildarts asked him, making the man grin a bit before extending his hand.

"Name's Gajeel, Iron Dragon Slayer." Gajeel proclaimed proudly, making Gildarts raise his eyebrow again. Do people get a good workout from raising their eyebrows? Probably not.

"Well then, my name's Gildarts." Gildarts said, taking Gajeel's hand and giving it a firm shake. "I don't think I've ever met a Dragon Slayer before. It would've really paid off for you to be with me on my little adventure." Gildarts remarked, making Gray snort.

"If you wanted to deal with Acnologia he should've gone and found that Natsu guy." Gray muttered to Erza, who rolled her eyes at Gray, but Gildarts overheard the little remark.

"Who's Natsu? I don't think I know him." Gildarts asked as an uneasy feeling washed over the guildhall. After hearing the story of Nirvana, Fairy Tail was unsure of what to think about the Salamander. He was known as a notorious Dark Mage for years before turning on a dime and helping Fairy Tail destroy the Oración Seis in like a day? It seemed almost too good to be true. Adding that onto the fact that they hadn't heard from him in a while, lead some to think that maybe it was

Erza elbowed Gray in order to make him answer, which Gray did, but not without cursing Erza under his breath. "Natsu's a guy… with a troubled past to say the least… that we met a while back on a quest to take down the Oración Seis. He helped us out a lot, and he's the Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse, trained by the Dragon you fought." Gray explained, making Gildarts' eyebrows, which had gotten quite the workout mind you, shoot up his forehead, and almost into his hairline.

"That… beast trained an apprentice?" Gildarts asked, confusion and shock evident in his voice. "Was he a good person?"

Gray seemed to squirm at the question. "That's… debateable. But we never would have succeeded without his help." Gray finally said after carefully thinking about how to describe Natsu. The calm, collected, sarcastic Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse that had nearly killed Jellal over a coat was quite the interesting individual indeed.

Gildarts sighed at the explanation. "Well if he helped you out when you needed then I suppose he's alright. When can I meet him?" Gildarts asked.

Gray gave Erza a hopeless look and she finally caved in and decided to help the Ice-Make wizard. "Natsu is travelling the country right now, he's looking for the very dragon that attacked you." Erza explained to Gildarts who silently wished the kid with a death wish good luck.

"And now I wonder if you'll even ever hear from him again." Gildarts remarked with a not so subtle amount of sarcasm.

* * *

They did. It was about two months later when a obviously terrified and exhausted courier bursted in through the Fairy Tail doors saying that he had a message for Wendy. The little girl accepted the letter and watched as the runner sprinted back outside and was gone so fast that even Jet would have been impressed.

"Umm.. ok." Wendy said as she opened the letter and smiled at it's contents. It was a letter from Natsu. Wendy's eyes widened at the first contact from the eldest Dragon Slayer before quickly reading the letter over.

 _Wendy,_

 _I hope the letter gets to you in one piece, the courier is obviously an idiot, but he was the only one I could find. Anyways, when you get this letter I'll probably be about a week away from Magnolia if I walk there, so I figured I'd stop by and visit. I want to see if you've gotten strong like I thought you have. Tell Erza I'll give her a rematch too if she wants one._

 _See you in a week or so,_

 _Natsu_

For the first time in awhile, a very large smile made it's way across Wendy's face at the thought of seeing the other Dragon Slayer once again. She happily skipped off and informed the rest of the mages who were present at Nirvana of Natsu's arrival, getting a myriad of responses.

"Oh this'll be good" Came from Gray, "I hope he doesn't actually fight anyone" Was Lucy's response, "His challenge has been accepted" Was how Erza responded, "The pink brute is visiting? Why?" Was Carla's response and Happy merely responded with "I hope he brings fish"

* * *

It was raining in Magnolia. The storm outside had escalated to the point where Makarov had to recommend that everyone present stayed overnight at the Guild until the storm passed by. Wendy stared out the window worriedly at the thought of Natsu being caught in the storm outside. The thought worried her.

"What is troubling you, child." Came the voice of Carla, jarring Wendy back to reality.

A small sigh before the response. "I guess I'm just worried about Natsu getting caught in the storm." Wendy admitted, making Carla scoff.

"I have never understood as to why you care for that Barbarian so much, he is nothing but a criminal." Carla commented, causing Wendy's head to snap to her cat.

"Carla! That's mean!" Wendy cried out.

"It is the truth child. This Natsu fellow will never be considered a good person, no matter how hard he tries." Carla continued on, not noticing the tears pricking at the corners of Wendy's vision.

"Why are you being so mean today Carla?" Wendy desperately asked, causing Carla to scoff again,

"Because you're getting worked up over someone who probably isn't going to visit like he said he would. He was a Dark Mage, Wendy, and they cannot be trusted." Carla lectured Wendy as the first tear fell from Wendy's eye/

"How can you be so mean? Natsu's our friend! He wouldn't lie about visiting and he is a good person! You've just been too obsessed with yourself to see that." Wendy cried out as she raced out of the Guildhall into the storm, making Carla hang her head before heading out after the bluenette, who was long gone.

Running down the watery road, the tears that were falling from Wendy's eyes could easily be mistaken for raindrops due to the storm. Wendy wasn't even sure where she was going, all she knew was that she wanted to get away from Carla, who was acting like a real jerk lately. Wendy didn't even realize that she wasn't looking where she was going until she plowed into someone who had clearly just been running.

Wendy let out a small squeak as she fell backwards into the rain, and was about to smack into the water covered ground before a hand caught her. Opening her eyes, Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of Natsu holding her up with a concerned look on his face.

He had definitely changed over two months. Natsu now donned a black cloak with sleeves that only reached his elbows. A tribal tattoo that Wendy didn't remember spiraled up and down his right arm, and it was clumsily hidden by the bandages wrapped around it. Natsu now sported a black shirt under the cloak instead of the dark blue one he had before. He wore the same camouflage cargo pants as before, just with a new addition at the waist. Natsu's katana was at his hip, hidden by the cloak itself. His hair was a bit longer and more wild, giving Natsu a slightly feral look. Wendy could have sworn that she saw a couple of scales on his underarms, but Natsu crossed his arms before she could get a good look.

"Why aren't you at the guild?" Were the first words out of his mouth.

Wendy's embarrassed gaze shifted to her feet as she murmured out her response, making Natsu shake his head. "You know what, I don't care, according to tall, blue and faceswapper over there, there's still time to save everyone here, where's the guildhall?" Natsu asked as he got ready to sprint, before a calm yet pained voice cut him off.

"I fear it is already too late Natsu." came a very familiar voice. Wendy's head snapped to the source of the noise and was shocked to find someone who looked shockingly similar to Jellal standing only a few feet away.

"Damn it being too late, this is the third god damned city, I am not failing again because you can't walk to a guild hall." Natsu snapped at the Jellal-look-alike, who gave a bitter smile to Natsu, before crumbling to his knees, causing Natsu to groan.

"Seriously? You borrowed most of my magic to close the last one, why are you still so weakened?" Natsu demanded, leaving Wendy completely in the dark.

"I still haven't recovered fully." was the every cryptic response.

"I'm sorry, but what are you two talking about?" Wendy interjected, confusion as clear in her voice as a black marble in a crystal glass.

Natsu groaned at the question and Jellal 2 sagged slightly. "Look I can explain that later, just tell everyone you can to get out of this city before the Ani-" Natsu started before Jellal's twin brother cut him off.

"We were too late, it has started." The Blue haired cloaked man muttered.

"Damn it Mystogan!" Natsu roared at the now named Mystogan as the storm increased tenfold. Wendy's vision went from somewhat visible to nothing but a blurred reality as she felt herself start to get picked up off her feet by the storm before she felt Natsu grab her wrist and slam into the ground.

Wendy wasn't sure how long Natsu was pressing her into the ground, but it was long enough for her legs to begin to go numb, so she'd guess around 3-5 minutes at the longest. When Natsu finally stood up, Wendy's eyes widened comically at what she say.

Magnolia was… gone, for lack of a better word. Not destroyed, just.. gone. Leaving behind only a white layer of ashes where the city used to be. "Wha-wh-what?" Wendy stuttered out as Natsu snorted and brushed himself.

"Perfect, just perfect." Natsu snapped. "And that would be the third city gone of in one of those giant ass holes, and you still haven't answered any of my god damned questions. You sure we're doing this right?" Natsu quipped to Mystogan who struggled to his feet with the help of his staff. He glanced tiredly into the sky, and a small fire of hope was lit in his eyes.

"Maybe we weren't but the Anima is still open." Mystogan gestured to the sky, making Natsu whistle.

"Son of a gun, you're right."

"I'm sorry, can one of you explain what just happened?" Wendy interjected again, with tears in her eyes this time at the thought of her new friends being wiped out.

"I can." Came the strict voice of Wendy's cat, Carla.

"And now the cat knows." Natsu muttered under his breath, making Carla glare at him before continuing.

"The giant hole in the sky Wendy, is called an Anima." Carla began as she stared at the sky with a sense of longing. "It's where Happy and I came from."

"Where is the blue cat, we know he didn't get sucked up." Natsu asked Carla, who gestured to her right. There Natsu saw Happy with his eyes still spinning, half buried in the white ash. "Figures." Natsu said in a bored voice before gesturing to Carla to continue.

"An anima, in short, is a portal to another world. A land called Edolas, where magic power is rarer than Dragon Slayers." Carla explained, making Wendy's eyes widen and Natsu to raise an eyebrow. She knew how rare Dragon Slayers were? He had a feeling that she was overselling the rarity just a tad.

"The Anima Project was the second plan put in motion in order to secure magic power for Edolas." Carla continued on. "The First… well was Happy and I, unborn Exceeds were sent into your world in order to find the ultimate source of magic in this world. The Dragon Slayer."

"I never got a cat." Natsu muttered bitterly as Mystogan whapped him with his staff in order to get him to shut up for the cat, before nearly falling over with the loss of his crutch.

"Then how did Happy end up with Fairy Tail and not Natsu?" Wendy asked, Carla, who seemed dumbstruck by the question.

"I am.. unsure. Maybe there was a mistake? That detail is irrelevant. What matters is that all of Fairy Tail has been sucked into Edolas by the giant Anima in the sky." Carla forged on as Natsu rolled his eyes. Stating the obvious much?

"We get it cat, and flying through the Anima takes us to Edolas?" Carla nodded in response to Natsu's question. "And you'd take us there?" Another nod. "Why?"

Carla let out a sigh at the final question. "Because it is partially my and Happy's fault that they are in this mess, so I suppose it's our job to get them out of it." Natsu nodded at the question and sighed.

"Alright, wake up Happy while you?" Natsu asked Carla, receiving a nod in response. Natsu then snapped as he turned to Mystogan, just after seeing the cat nod. "The tabby just answered more of the questions I've had in less than two minutes than you did in three weeks! You couldn't take fifteen minutes while we were walking to explain what was going on?" Natsu snapped at Mystogan, who let out a tired sigh.

"Natsu, we can argue later, but you and Wendy have a task. To save Magnolia from Edolas." Mystogan said, which made Natsu let out a dark chuckle in response.

"And why do I need to save them? They're probably fine over there anyways, I said I'd agree to help you close these things, not dive through them and go on some rabbit chase for your guild." Natsu retorted to Mystogan, who showed no outward sign of being affect by Natsu's response.

"Because you owe them." Was the simple response. "You thought I was crazy when I enlisted your help after you… decimated those Wyverns. You refused to listen to me until I told you I was a Fairy Tail mage. I know now why or how you are indebted to Fairy Tail, but now's your chance to make it even." Mystogan explained, knowing he had already won the battle the second he opened his mouth. "Besides, with your power, you'll be a god in Edolas." Mystogan added on, making Natsu raise an eyebrow in interest.

"You should have led with that." Natsu stated as he turned back to the white cat, who was not sporting a dizzied Happy. "I can't believe I'm going through with this." Natsu muttered to himself, before turning to Wendy. "You coming?"

Wendy's eyes widened at the question. "Wha-what? I have so many questions! Where were you? Why does he look like Jellal? What are are you and Happy Carla? Why does Edolas need our magic? How does flying through the Anima take us to Edolas?" Wendy shot off question after question, making Natsu and Carla sigh at their oncoming explanations.

"I guess I'll go first." Natsu muttered. "I was just travelling around training for the past two months. I ran into Mystogan after the city I was staying in got sucked up by one of these Animas, he trailed me for a bit and asked for my help when he saw me decimate a group of Wyverns, and that's about it."

"B-but why does he look like Jellal!?" Wendy cried out, tears pricking her eyes at the thought of the boy who raised her then went insane.

"Wendy… Jellal and I are not the same person." Mystogan said tiredly. "In short, I am his Edolas counterpart." Mystogan revealed to Wendy, who took a step back at the revelation.

"B-but.. then… which one of you helped me?" Wendy asked in a small voice, inciting a small smile out of Mystogan.

"That would be me. I was looking for an Anima when I ran into you and decided to lend you my help." Mystogan explained with the small smile never leaving his lips, making Wendy sniff at the revelation. She had indeed revived a sociopath during the Nirvana incident, not the man who she thought had helped raise her.

"Oh.. ok." Was the small response.

"Look Wendy, I want just as many answers as you do, but we're going to get them from Carla, not Mystogan if I've learned anything over the past three weeks." Natsu interjected to Wendy, who nodded at Natsu's statement. "So, you coming?" Natsu asked Wendy, who nodded her head.

"I need to help save Fairy Tail, it's only fair after the took me in." Wendy said as a small smile made it's way onto her face at last. Natsu gave her a smirk and continued to smile as Happy finally came to and latched himself to Natsu's chest, making Natsu give off a small laugh.

After the situation had been explained to Happy, the blue cat was more than happy (no pun intended) to help fly them to Edolas, wanting to know where he came from and saving Fairy Tail were both important to him.

Natsu gave Mystogan a look. "I'm going to ask you this once, and I'll be damned if you don't give me an answer, is there anything we need to know about Edolas?" Natsu asked, making Mystogan hesitate.

"I am unsure, it has been years since I've travelled to my homeland. I do know that you should use your magic sparingly, the people of Edolas use magic items instead of actual Magic, so igniting yourself in blue energy in town square probably would not be a good idea." Mystogan stated with some not so subtle sarcasm, making Natsu give a small grin.

"Did my sarcasm finally rub off on you Mysty?"

Mystogan rolled his eyes. "Go to Edolas and save Fairy Tail before I change my mind and close the Anima." Was the response he got.

Natsu rolled his eyes at his cloaked companion. "Pushy. Alright, let's go Happy!" Natsu called out as Happy latched onto Natsu's cloak and rocketed into the air with Natsu, who gave a small laugh of excitement as the cat took off.

Carla huffed at the rapidly disappearing duo and gently grabbed Wendy by the back of her dress. "Come on now Wendy, we need to keep an eye on them." Carla said as he took off with Wendy in tow, but not before hearing Natsu yell out that he'd race Happy and a flash of blue shot across the sky, and the call of Happy accepting the challenge.

"They are utterly hopeless" Carla sighed as she took off after the two fleeing people that Carla felt needed to be admitted into a Mental Asylum. They caught up to them at the entrance of the Anima, where Natsu was calmly floating, surrounded by an eerie blue light and was arguing with Happy over who won the race.

"Happy, I reached the Anima far before you, just admit defeat." Natsu said with a raise eyebrow, causing Happy to cry out that it was only because Natsu had surprised him. Wendy let out a small giggle and was oddly happy to see Natsu so relaxed, as opposed to the uptight warrior that she had met a few months ago. Natsu rolled his eyes at the blue cat before turning his attention to Wendy and Carla.

"So, we diving into the rabbit's hole?" Natsu asked Carla, who sighed in response.

"It would seem that way."

Natsu gave a small grin, "then what are we waiting for? Let's go" Natsu said as he rocketed into the Anima without fear, leaving the others to follow in the swirling portal in the sky with more caution than the Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse.

* * *

In short, for Wendy, Happy and Carla, transporting to Edolas was a weird feeling. It was the painless feeling of being deconstructed the put back together in the exact way that you were before that they experienced for the first time. And to all of them it was unsettling. Of course Natsu uses his teleportation technique all the time so it felt completely natural to him.

The first thing that the four noticed as they arrived in Edolas was that they were falling. Of course that was to be expected as they had entered through a portal in the sky, however it did cause the four a bit of shock as Carla tightened her grip on Wendy and attempted to fly them to safety. Keyword, attempted.

The second thing they noticed was that Happy and Carla no longer could use their Aera magic, and boy did that give them a shock.

"Wh-what?!" Carla cried out in shock as she couldn't make her wings appear on her back.

"We're all gonna die!" Happy cried out as the plummeted towards the ground, making the falling Natsu raise an eyebrow? The cats couldn't use their magic, well it was worth a try of using his then. One blue glow and four people planted safely on the ground in the middle of a forest later, Natsu found out that, yes, he could still use his magic.

Natsu snorted, "Well that was easy."

"Wh-what? We can't use our magic but you can still use yours?" Carla cried out, making Natsu raise an eyebrow.

"Apparently so, and you're complaining that I saved our lives?" Came the calm retort. Although Natsu did reckon that it was slightly weird that Happy and Carla were unable to use their magic. Could Wendy use her's too? Natsu decided to voice his question.

"Wendy, try to roar for me will you?" Natsu asked, making Wendy jump at her name being called.

"Why?" Wendy asked, completely lost as to why Natsu wanted her to attack him. As if sensing her confusion, Natsu let out a small chuckle.

"I just want to see if you can use your magic as well." Natsu responded, as he played his time with the Jellal of Edolas over again in his head, looking for something that Mystogan might have given him to be able to still his magic, but came up blank. Did he slip something in his food or something?

"Oh.. um ok." Wendy said timidly as she took a deep breath. " **Sky Dragon's Roar** " Wendy called out, but was shocked when nothing happened. Nothing, not even a small gust of air from her mouth. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the failed roar.

"I think I understand what Mystogan said when he implied that I'd be a god here." Natsu said as a smirk made it's way onto his face. "I can still use my magic, and the people here are running out of it, and you guys can't use any either." Natsu said as he looked forward to picking a couple of one-sided fights.

"That's not fair." Wendy mumbled, making Natsu chuckle.

"Wendy, life isn't fair, otherwise I wouldn't have been raised by the Dragon of the Apocalypse and joined the Oración Seis." Natsu retorted as he started to make his way to the edge of the forest, leaving the others scrambling to keep up.

Natsu's eyes widened when he did reach the end of said forest. "Uh.. you guys are definitely going to want to see this." Natsu said, his voice filled with shock. Wendy and the cats rushed to Natsu's side, wishing to see what had left the Dragon Slayer dumbstruck, and they were not disappointed.

Edolas was nothing like they had expected at all. Instead of one constant terrain of land, it was a collection of islands that floated regally in the sky. Each one was rich with it's own life, some being cities, others being dense forests, and even some being nothing but ruins. There was a ground to the eternal land of the sky, but it was incredibly far down that and Natsu had the feeling that it would hurt quite a lot if he fell. Even if just for a fraction of a second. The passing clouds did nothing to help the small sense of vertigo that was creeping up in the back of the four mages minds, but Natsu shrugged it off as he continued his search, looking for quite literally anything that he could use to find Wendy's guild.

Natsu let out a small growl as he stomped his foot on the ground at his lack of success, before Happy pointed out to one of the forest islands and cried out about seeing something orange. Natsu followed Happy's vision and sure enough, there was a small orange flag flying off of a tree on the island next to theirs.

"I suppose we can ask who lives there for directions." Natsu mused as Wendy nodded and sheepishly looked at Natsu.

"I uh, guess you're our main way of getting across islands.." Wendy trailed off as Natsu sighed. He clearly was not happy with the idea of being a shuttle between islands before a little girl and two cats when he had no damned idea why he could even use his magic in the first place.

"I suppose so." Natsu sighed as he gestured for all three of them to get on Natsu's back. Wendy and Happy did so with little reluctance, but Carla was not so easily persuaded. Eventually, the threat of being left behind made her cave in as she climbed onto Wendy's back. "We all on? Nice, good, great." Natsu sarcastically called out as he charged up his flight spell. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Flight** " Natsu uttered as his body took on the ethereal blue that it always did before taking off.

Wendy would be lying if she said that she didn't like the feeling of flying on Natsu's back. She simply enjoyed the feeling of the wind rushing through her hair that reminded her of when she flew with Grandeeney as a little girl. Of course Natsu's flapping cloak had a far more comfortable feel to them then Grandeeney's scales, but that was irrelevant. Wendy let out a giggle as she raised one hand to the air and felt the air pass through it. She saw Natsu roll his eyes at her, but she could have sworn that she saw the corner of his mouth quirk up into a smile. However it was gone just as fast as it came, leaving Wendy to believe that maybe it was just a trick of the light.

Landing with a small burst of air, the three passengers quickly hopped off of Natsu's back and began to follow the Dragon Slayer's lead to where he had seen the orange banner. Natsu grunted as he pushed a few branches out of the way, before looking up and letting out a small chuckle. "Well, what are the chances" Natsu said as he gestured to the orange banner, which sported a very familiar logo to everyone present.

"It's Fairy Tail!" Wendy cried out happily as she ran towards the guild, Happy and Carla shortly behind, and Natsu taking his time walking to the guild. They sure had set up shop fast hadn't they? Making a flag and everything. Well, with Magic anything goes.

Natsu frowned as he approached the doors. Wendy noticed Natsu tense at the sight of the doors, and was confused by the action. "What's wrong Natsu?" The little girl asked, putting her confusion into words.

"I just remembered that I know next to no one in your guild" Natsu dryly remarked. "And they all know me as a criminal."

Wendy's eyes widened as she tried to explain their situation on him. "No no! After we told everyone about what happened at Nirvana most of the guild was looking forward to meeting you anyways, even the Thunder God Tribe was looking forward to meeting you, and I know that Gajeel was especially!" Wendy rambled on and on about her guild, with only one name catching Natsu's attention. Gajeel. The only reason he had even bothered to show up with the rest of the Oración Seis on that fateful day was because Natsu wanted to see if Fairy Tail would have brought the Iron Dragon Slayer with them. He still wanted to ask him a few questions.

Letting out a sigh, Natsu gestured to Wendy to lead the way, and Wendy happily opened the door and skipped into what she believed was her guild. However the second she entered the guild she realized that something was amiss.

Natsu snorted as he stepped into the guildhall. "I was under the impression there would be more drinking." Natsu muttered to Wendy in the almost silent guildhall, aside from the occasional quiet conversation. Natsu had always heard that Fairy Tail was a bunch of constantly partying drunk fools. Extremely powerful partying drunk fools, but partying drunk fools none the less. So in short the quiet guildhall was pretty much the exact opposite of what he had expected.

Wendy was thrown for a loop at the Fairy Tail guildhall. It was almost the exact opposite of what she was used to. There was no partying or drinking, only silence.

"Uh..um hello?" Wendy timidly called out, catching the attention of everyone in the guildhall, who all tensed at the little girl in their guildhall. A blonde haired girl in punk clothes had sprung at Wendy before she had finished her little hello.

"Who are you?!" The Blonde demanded in a less than friendly tone, making Natsu stiffen and have his right hand trail down towards his katana. This might just get ugly…

"L-lucy is that you? I-it's me Wendy!" Wendy desperately called out as the new version of Lucy snorted.

"Bullshit, Wendy's right over there." Lucy said with a point to an older blue haired girl who looked shockingly like Wendy except for one rather large change in her breast size.

"Wh-what?" Wendy stuttered at the sight of her doppelganger. Lucy's eyes narrowed as her hand drifted towards a knife on her waist.

"I'll ask you one last time before this gets ugly, who are you?" Wendy demanded as Natsu felt his grip on the handle of his katana under his cloak tighten as he slowly made his way towards the sadistic blonde chick who needed to pull the stick out of her ass.

"I-I told you! My name is Wendy! I-isn't this the Fairy Tail Guild?" Wendy asked

desperately as the crazy Lucy snarled.

"Wrong answer." Was all the new Lucy said as she began to draw the knife.

Natsu's katana was under her chin before she had the chance.

Her eyes shot up to Natsu who appeared to be calmly staring down at her, but any fool could see the ebony fire that burned behind his eyes, begging her to unsheath her knife and make him a very happy person. "I take it that you don't have many friends if that's how you introduce yourself, Wendy asked if this was Fairy Tail, as our version is a tad.. different." Natsu calmly remarked, never once removing the sword from under Lucy's chin. While he appeared calm, the underlying threat was still there of course, one wrong move and he'd gut her like a pig.

"Wait! Maybe they're the Edolas version of Fairy Tail!" The Dragon Slayers heard Happy cry out. Wendy turned to the blue cat, but Natsu's gaze was still fixated on the new Lucy, his eyes sending shivers into her soul.

"The Edolas Fairy Tail?" Wendy asked before a voice interjected.

"You aren't from around here are you?" Came the calm, but still happy voice of Mirajane, who gave them a small smile as she wiped down a glass. She looked exactly the same as their Mira, even the same color dress. Natsu recognized her as 'the Demon' but a rather happy looking version which made him question his knowledge slightly before coming to a realization. Silently noting that every member of Fairy Tail probably had an Edolas counterpart, if the three he'd seen already were anything to go on, Natsu listened to Wendy speak

"Umm.. yes, we're from a place called Magnolia in a world called Earthland." Wendy muttered to Mira who raised her eyebrow at Wendy, before the sword holding Natsu finally twirled his katana and sheathed it before snorting and giving Mira the short story.

"Long story short, Wendy's friends in Fairy Tail got sucked up by a giant portal in the sky called an Anima, which we followed through in the hopes of retrieving them." Natsu bluntly stated as the other Lucy took a shaky step back and sat down at the nearest table.

The word Anima was whispered all throughout the Guildhall as the other Lucy finally found her voice and spoke again. "Are you sure it was an Anima?"  
"Positive"

"Well.. I guess I'm sorry then." The other Lucy apologized embarrassingly.

"I beg your pardon?" Natsu asked, making Mirajane behind the bar giggle.

"We all thought that the Anima were just a rumor made by the king since they never seem to work. They're devices for collecting Magic Power, but we never knew where the Anima led to." Mira explained as Natsu snorted.

"They seem to enjoy sucking up cities."

"They wha-" was as far as Mira got before someone burst into the guildhall. Natsu didn't have a damn clue who he was. The guy was wearing 4 different winter coats, three pairs of pants and two hats, making him look like an overcrowded coat rack.

"The Fairy Hunter and Harbinger! They're here." He panted as he stumbled over to a table and Lucy sprung into action.

"Levy, get the teleporter ready!" She ordered, making a blue haired girl snap at her.

"Don't tell me what to do bitch!"  
"Do you want to die today?"  
"I'll fire up the teleporter, but not because you told me to." Levy shot back, their argument remind Natsu suspiciously one the ones that a 5 year old Natsu would have with an exasperated Acnologia, who just wanted the damn brat to train.

"Fairy Hunter and Harbinger?" Natsu asked Mira, who seemed to be the only calm one as the guild divulged into chaos. The silver haired barmaid let out a sigh before beginning to explain to Natsu and Wendy, completely missing their two cat companions.

"I don't know about where you two are from, but here in Edolas guilds like ours are.. frowned upon to say the least by the king." Mira began sadly. "So he has started to send his private military commanders, like Fairy Hunter Knightwalker out to get us, along with hiring Bounty Hunters like Harbinger to help them along. That duo has already taken so many of our members." Mira finished sadly.

Natsu snorted as he cracked his neck. "I'm looking forward to a fight." Natsu growled as he unsheathed his katana and twirled it about, dropping his cloak on the bar in the process. Natsu was just as muscular as Wendy remembered, but the bandages on his arms were still definitely a new addition. Was is just her or were they hiding something? She could have sworn that she saw a tribal tattoo and some scales under those bandages.

"Yeah, nutjob, fighting those two is suicide! Don't even bother" Lucy yelled at him as she raced to Levy in order to yell at her to work faster, making Natsu snort at the punk blonde girl. Taking on Cobra, Brain and Zero one after the other and ending up victorious was supposed to be impossible as well, yet here he was, alive and well, and with just a bit more experience in his still well hidden **Fire Dragon Slayer** magic.

"I'm itching for a good fight, I'll take my chances." Natsu retorted as he casually strolled outside the guildhall and stabbed his sword around, before looking for anyone he might consider an enemy. And boy did he find one. A giant blue dragon looking creature roared as it soared overhead and dropped two people off of it. Natsu grinned as he removed his sword from the ground, twirled it around, and rested it on his shoulder as he await for the two opponents to approach him.

"Only the brave, or foolish would attempt to take on both myself and Harbinger" The first figure spoke, causing Natsu to recognize the voice as remarkably similar to Titanias. An eyebrow was raised when he saw that it was in fact the Titania, in a rather revealing armor twirling a large spear that was staring him down. Natsu snorted. He figured that her Edolas counterpart couldn't be much different than the original, and he had floored Erza in about 5 moves earlier, this should be easy.

"Stay fast Knightwalker, we are unaware of what he can do." came the cautious voice of her hooded partner. He clearly seemed confused by Natsu's appearance, but that was all Natsu could see under the black leather cloak and cowl. What Natsu could see was the rifle slung over his back and the pistol at his hip, along with the short Gurkha blade at his hip. All in all, he fit the assassin appearance more than the bounty hunter.

Natsu gave his new opponents a dark smirk. It'd been too long since he'd had a good fight, and after training for a few months, he needed to cut loose.

Mystogan was completely and utterly right about his prediction. Edolas was going to have no idea what had just hit them. And the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer was going to enjoy it.

 _ **Wow so there's chapter 8, like 3 days after chapter 7. Damn. So I probably won't update until maybe Sunday this time cuz I got tests to study for in school and such, but cranking out three chapters in 2 weeks feels pretty satisfying for me. Was it two weeks? I dunno.**_

 _ **Also, little note. The Pairing has been decided and holy crap it was a blow out**_

 _ **Natsu x Ultear got 17 votes,**_

 _ **Natsu x Erza got 20,**_

 _ **And then Natsu x Erza x Ultear went ahead and got 34 votes.**_

 _ **So yeah this story's gonna be those three, and I already have an idea on how to do it. Hope you enjoyed the extra thousand words or so I got from Gildarts' return.**_

 _ **Lemme know what you thought, and I hope you enjoyed.**_

 _ **See ya,**_

 _ **~Solo**_


	9. A Land Like Our Own

Natsu's mind kicked into overdrive due to two opponents in front of him. The Erza impersonator was clearly overconfident while the hooded gunslinger seemed to be a tad more cautious. Regardless, they both held themselves the way that a seasoned warrior would, so they held some sort of power to them. A dark black fire danced behind the Dragon Slayer's eyes at the thought of getting to cut loose for the first time in months, and maybe showing off a few new tricks.

"Well, come on then, I don't have all day." Natsu mocked as he removed his sword from his shoulder and twirled it in a mocking manner. Growling at being mocked in such a manner, Knightwalker lept at Natsu who simply twirled out of the way and delivered a strong kick to the back of her head, chuckling as the Edolas Titania ate dirt. "Missed me."

Growling as she stood up, she gestured to Harbinger to attack as well. The Bounty Hunter shrugged as he drew the rifle off of his back and aimed at Natsu as the Dragon Slayer knocked around Knightwalker with little effort.

" **Freeze Frame** " Harbinger muttered as he pulled the trigger, and was met with an icy blast of wind to the face as the frozen bullet raced to Natsu, who heard the shot and hit the deck. The bullet sailed over Natsu, but Knightwalker took advantage of the ducking Natsu in the attempt to swing her spear at him, only for Natsu to roll out of the way and slash her along her cheek, drawing a small amount of blood.

"I could have just decapitated you, you know" Natsu called out as he dodged the now speeding up strikes of Knightwalker, who grew angrier and angrier with every strike. Who was this new Fairy that had her completely outclassed?!

Natsu's grin never faded from his face as he finally stopped playing defensive from Erza and attacked with a flurry of strikes, each one drawing a small cut. That and stinging like a bitch. "Ah c'mon, I know that's not your full power." Natsu shouted as he twirled around another frozen bullet racing towards him courtesy of Harbinger.

Knightwalker growled as she finally pushed Natsu's onslaught of non-lethal blows. " **Sylferion!** " Knightwalker called out as her spear glowed and now took on the form of an arrowhead instead of a four pronged mcstabbitron. Natsu's eyes widened slightly at her sudden burst of speed before locking onto Knightwalker. She had sped up sure, but he had been able to keep track of Erza in the first exchange of blows between the Oración Seis and the Allies. Erza had been moving at least this fast then in her flight armor, and was just about as scantily clothed.

Taking one step to his left, Natsu let Knightwalker rush past him as heard Harbinger's rifle go off again, and this time he felt his entire left arm loose feeling. Looking down he saw it was because it had been completely frozen. _I've had just about it up to here with god damned ice spells_. Natsu bitterly thought as he remembered the cocky Ice Make mages he had allied with before.

Knightwalker seeing the obvious advantage leaped at Natsu again, bringing her spear down in an arc on top who did something that caught Knightwalker completely off guard. He spun his frozen arm up, using his frozen arm as a shield to block the strike from Knightwalker's spear, before shoving the spear off, and nailing Erza's Edolas counterpart in the side of the head, so hard that the ice that had just blocked a spear strike shattered and Natsu felt feeling return to his arm once again.

Knightwalker stumbled as her vision swam from the force of the blow. What the hell had just happened. It felt like she had been sat on by a Legion. Shaking the blurriness away, Erza's attention returned the the enigma that was in front of her, only to see him glaring at Harbinger, who had sheathed his rifle. Instead, he drew his pistol in his right hand and had his left on the Gurkha on his waist.

Natsu growled as he lunged at the hooded man, who quickly raised his pistol at Natsu and took aim. " **Shock Shot** " Natsu heard the hood mutter as the gun fired again, and the smell of ozone entered the air as Natsu twirled to avoid the mini lightning bolt that exited the handgun. Growling, Natsu continued running towards Harbinger, whose frown deepened as he unsheathed the short blade at his side, and ran towards Natsu to meet his charge. Completely aware of the fact that Knightwalker was following him as well, Natsu grinned at the small plan that formed in his head.

The second that Natsu reached Harbinger, Natsu ducked down and slid behind Harbinger, catching the Bounty Hunter off guard as Natsu shot up and kicked the hooded man into Knightwalker who was knocked down by the sudden weight of her companion. Natsu chuckled as he watched the two stand up.

"Watch where you're going!" Knightwalker snapped at Harbinger, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"I was kicked into you, if anything, our collision was caused by your inability to dodge." Harbinger calmly remarked as he drew his pistol from his belt and fired at Natsu in one fluid motion.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Natsu's mind went into overdrive and he did the one thing that came naturally when he had his katana in his hands. He swung the damn sword.

Natsu leaped forward as he swung his sword at the oncoming bullet, and cleaved the bullet clean in two, having the bit of magic fizzle out into nothing. Not wasting any time on pondering his luck, Natsu leaped forward and stabbed at Harbinger's torso, only to be blocked by Knightwalker's spear and then received a boot to the chest from Harbinger while Natsu's sword was pinned to the ground, sending the Dragon Slayer backwards without his blade.

Harbinger appeared interested in Natsu's katana as he picked it up and gave it a few swings, making Natsu growl at the Bounty Hunter. "I'm going to give you one chance to give me back my blade before I introduce your face to the earth. Formally." Natsu snarled at Harbinger, who raised an eyebrow.

"You believe that you can take us both on without your blade? Your swordsmanship was remarkable, I will admit, but unarmed you are vulnerable. You managed to outclass both Knightwalker and I one on one, but as a team we are nigh unbeatable." Harbinger stated as he studied the angered Dragon Slayer, wondering what trick he might use to save his skin. However, Harbinger was not prepared for what followed.

 _I severely doubt that last statement, let's crack open the Apocalypse._ Natsu thought to himself before speaking. "As you wish, I tried playing nice." Natsu growled as the air surrounding his fists erupted into a bright blue energy. Shocked by the sudden appearance of the blue, Knightwalker and Harbinger were both unprepared for Natsu to launch himself forward at them with a surprising speed. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist** " Natsu called out as he delivered an uppercut to Harbinger, sending him flying, before twisting towards Knightwalker. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw** " Natsu called out as he planted his foot in Knightwalker's unprotected stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs and sending her sprawling backwards.

Natsu let out a feral growl as he walked over to the downed Harbinger and grabbed his sword from the Bounty Hunter's grasp. Whilst inspecting his blade for damage, Harbinger sprung up, placed his pistol right in between Natsu's eyes, and fired.

The Dragon Slayer was sent flying backwards and hit the ground with a solid thud. Harbinger let out a sigh of relief. No matter who that guy was, a **Shock Shot** right in between the eyes would overload the brain and kill anyone. His opponent wasn't getting back up.

That was why he was more than surprised to see Natsu standing back up with nothing more than an annoyed growl as electricity danced around on his skin, but showing no outward signs of having effected the Dragon Slayer aside from the annoyed expression on his face.

"That's it." Natsu growled. "We're done here." And with those final words, Natsu disappeared in a flash of blue.

Knightwalker quickly raised her spear in a guarded position and Harbinger raised his gun and blade, ready for when Natsu would attack them, but they couldn't have been prepared for what happened next.

A flash of blue behind them was the only warning they got before Natsu picked up of them up by the throats and slammed them into the ground. Taking a deep breath, the fire in Natsu's eyes danced sadistically as he called out " **Apocalypse Dragons' Roar!** "

Knightwalker figured she must have been hallucinating when she saw the torrent of blue energy that erupted from the Dragon Slayer's mouth, but the pain that she felt when it slammed into her was all too real until she succumbed to the realm of unconsciousness. Harbinger was no better as the blow to his head and roar were too much for him and he was knocked out as well.

Natsu snorted as he looked as his downed opponents. They did little more than annoy him throughout the entire fight. He was perfectly aware that they had more powerful spells that they didn't get to use, but they both needed to learn that they were beneath him.

Turning back to the Fairy Tail tree house/guildhall, he was greeted with opened jaws from almost everyone except those whom he had arrived with. Natsu raised an eyebrow at their astounded looks. "What?"

Carla facepalmed at Natsu's response. "They've never seen the power a Dragon Slayer can wield, especially a trained one like you." Carla responded, making Natsu snort.

"Well get used to it, cuz I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while." Natsu retorted. "Didn't someone mention a teleporter? Reinforcements might be incoming" He noted as he let his eyes travel to his defeated opponents.

The blue haired punk girl nodded. "I'll activate it so we can move locations, but I think that Knightwalker might just think twice before attacking us again, considering the asskicking you just gave her." She remarked as she made her way over to a hideous piece of machinery that Natsu was surprised that he didn't see earlier.

Natsu calmly made his way inside the guildhall and plopped himself down on a bench at the bar as Wendy rushed up to him.

"Are you okay?!" The little girl cried out worriedly. Taking a bullet to the face had to be pretty painful after all.

Natsu rolled his eyes at the little girl. "I'm fine Wendy, the hunter got a surprise shot off and that was it." Natsu calmly replied as he picked up his cloak and put it on again, before hearing the blue haired girl from before call out.

"Alright, Teleporter's all ready to go, let's do it!" And with that, she flipped a switch and Natsu felt his stomach take a surprise vacation to his mouth as he was rocked forward by the sudden movement. Natsu lurched forwards, grabbing onto the bar to prevent himself from being knocked off the stool and pulled himself up as he felt the world solidify around him once again.

Shaking the blurriness out of his eyes, Natsu saw that no one had fared much better. Tables were overturned, guild members were sent flying, and some had left human sized indents in the guild's walls. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the damage done and spoke what was on everyone's minds. "So let's never do that again." He received groans of agreement from all of the guild members who had made less than pleasant landings.

"As fun as all of this has been, we are here for a reason are we not?" Carla questioned, making Natsu nod at the ivory cat and turn to Mirajane, who was standing herself up from behind the bar counter, still a little dizzy from their sudden departure and landing.

"How do we get to the capital from here? I have a feeling that your magic hating King might have something to do with this." Natsu asked Mirajane, who shook her head, clearing the fuzziness from her brain.

"You'll have to ask Levy, she's the only who has any idea where we are right now." Mira said to Natsu, who gave the barmaid a blank stare as realization dawned on him.

"Ah." was all Natsu said as he turned around and walked over to the blue haired girl that he assumed must be Levy. "Where are we now?" Natsu asked Levy, who sighed before responding.

"I teleported us to a desert about 5 miles from the nearest town." Levy responded as she continued to check her machine, making Natsu roll his eyes.

"That's nice and all, but how do I get to the capital from here?" Natsu asked, a slight bit of impatience slipping into his tone. And why wouldn't it? He had just fought two people who wanted to kill everyone here, and then was tossed around by what he could barely call a teleport. His teleportations were smooth and flawless, not any of this throwing people around the hall crap.

"It's about 50 miles west of here, why?" Levy asked as Natsu sighed and gestured to Happy, Wendy and Carla that they were leaving.

"Woah woah wait, you guys aren't actually going to the capital are you?" Lucy #2 demanded as Natsu gave her a bored glance and strode out of the guildhall, making everyone sigh and leaving Wendy to answer.

"Well uh, yes, we are." Wendy said as her eyes trailed down to the floor. She really wasn't sure about going to the capital, but she trusted Natsu's judgement enough to follow him there.

Lucy's imposter sighed. "I understand that the Natsu guy is strong, but this is just plain suicidal." Lucy said, frustration clear in her voice. "The capital is fortified beyond belief, if he even let a blue spark hop off him, he'd have the royal army on him in seconds." She explained, only to have a retort sent her way.

"I'm only here to get Wendy's friends back, so it'll be a risk that we'll have to take." Natsu responded to Lucy as he walked back into the guildhall to retrieve his companions. "We gotta go if we want to get there anytime soon, let's move kiddo." Natsu said to Wendy, as the little girl and cats hopped up and followed Natsu out of the guildhall.

Lucy Ashley sighed at the leaving figures. It was clear that Natsu was somewhat at odds with Wendy's friends, but he still had become the de facto leader of their little group on the mission to retrieve said friends. But that didn't matter, there was no way that they could take on the entire capital.. right?

* * *

Natsu had lead them to the edge of the island that they were currently on, before looking down at the island down below them. There was a small town that appeared to be in a rather ragged looking shape if the rickety houses were anything to go by.

"There's a town down there." Natsu called out to Wendy and the cats, who rushed over to see what Natsu was talking about. They saw that there was indeed a small town, and all three looked at Natsu at how to get there, making the Son of Acnologia sigh in the process.

"Climb on." Natsu drawled as Happy latched himself to Natsu's head, Wendy climbed onto his back and Carla hung onto the back of Wendy's dress. Releasing another sigh, Natsu decided that he should just get his next trip as the Edolas version of a driver for hire over with. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Flight** " Natsu muttered as he was surrounded by the familiar blue glow and shot towards the town. Wind whipped through Natsu's hair as he heard Wendy let out a small yelp of joy and the annoyance of being a transportation service lessened just a little bit.

It had hurt him more than he would like to admit to have seen Wendy so devastated at the loss of her guild, and while joining Fairy Tail had been the good choice for her, Natsu wasn't dumb enough to realize that she was still hurting just a little inside. The Dragon Slayer didn't like it when people had to hide their pain.

Deciding to give his passengers a small heart attack, Natsu spun in the air, causing Carla to gasp, Happy to yelp before laughing, and Wendy to cry out in joy before Natsu sped up and made his landing a few dozen yards outside of the town, where his three passengers all clambered off, some happier than others.

"What was that?!" Carla demanded. "Had we been less prepared someone could have fallen off." The tabby scolded Natsu who rolled his eyes at the cat.

"And I would have caught you." Natsu stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Probably."

"And if you didn't catch us?" Carla demanded.

Natsu only raised an eyebrow. "We were a few hundred feet up in the air, I would have caught you before you hit the ground." He stated as he began making his way towards the town. "C'mon, I don't know about you but I'm hungry after flying around and fighting people." Natsu stated as his companions all made their way to his side and they continued on their way into the small town.

Upon arrival, Natsu did find a small cafe that served food like he had originally hoped. Sighing at their luck, Natsu led the group inside and got them all a table. It was a nice small cafe, there were maybe a dozen tables and a kitchen in the back where people could see their food being made. Looking down at their menus, Natsu quickly realized that he had no idea what anything on the menu meant, and simply waited for the waiter to show up so he could get the suggestions.

Glancing tiredly out the window, Natsu raised an eyebrow at what looked to be a platoon of knights. Natsu's interest peaked when he saw several of said soldiers go tumbling back into the window, leading Natsu to believe that there was a problem outside. Sighing, Natsu stood up, much to the confusion of his three companions.

"There's something going on, I'm going to check it out to see if it's safe for us to stay here for a while." Natsu explained as he threw his cloak on the back of his chair, knowing that it might get in the way during a fight and exited the cafe, hearing Wendy call out for him to be safe as he left.

The first thing that happened as Natsu exited the cafe was him being forced to duck as a knight was sent flying at him. Standing up, Natsu was immediately interested to see the dozens of soldiers being taken on by one man who had long black hair and bright red eyes.

The interest was only raised when he saw the man use magic. Growling at the soldiers around him, the black haired man took a deep breath before yelling out a _very_ familiar spell to Natsu. " **Iron Dragon's Roar** " The man roared as a tornado of metal was launched from his mouth, incapacitating the soldiers that stood in front of him.

"Black Steel…" Natsu muttered under his breath. So the Iron Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail was here as well? And could use his magic? Natsu gained a devious smile. With the Iron Dragon Slayer's help the capital would fall in no time.

A large group of knights quickly formed up and charged the Iron Dragon Slayer, who braced himself against the oncoming attack, but was surprised when a single spell was spoken out. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture** " came a calm voice as an eruption of blue entered Gajeel's vision and the knights that were going to charge him were all sent flying.

Dumbstruck at the spell that he had just heard, Gajeel snapped his head to where he heard the spell come from, only to come face to face with a pink haired man who had bandages wrapped around his arms and a white scarf around his neck.

"What are the odds of seeing you here Black Steel?" The man calmly remarked, setting Gajeel on guard, typically only his enemies called him by his nickname. Upon seeing Gajeel tense up, the man snorted. "Oh cool it Metalhead, if I wanted you hurt I would have let those knights do it for me." The man remarked as he stuck out his hand for Gajeel to shake. "Natsu Dragneel, Apocalypse Dragon Slayer, nice to meet another Slayer." Natsu spoke as Gajeel took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragon Slayer. Same goes to you Dragneel." Gajeel spoke curtly as Natsu gave a small snort of amusement.

"Well Redfox, as far as I know, you're part of Fairy Tail now correct?" Natsu asked Gajeel, who nodded carefully at Natsu, causing a small grin to break out on the stoic face of the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer. "Good, I'm here with a couple other mages from Fairy Tail that you might recognize, just inside that cafe over there, I have a feeling that the little girl will be happy to see you." Natsu said as he walked back to the cafe that he came from, gesturing for Gajeel to follow him.

The Iron Dragon Slayer did end up following Natsu, but not without a good bit of hesitation. He had no idea how powerful Natsu was and if he caught him off guard it could end poorly for Gajeel. That being said, Gajeel was pleasantly surprised when he walked into the cafe and saw the young Sky Dragon Slayer and the two cats the he often saw at the guild.

"Gajeel!" Wendy cried out as she hopped up and ran over to the Iron Dragon Slayer, who smirked at the little girl. "You're okay!"

Gajeel let out a small snort. "It's gonna take more than some weird portal in the sky to put me down kiddo." Gajeel responded to Wendy, who looked happy that someone else in her guild was perfectly fine.

"That and Gajeel here can use his magic as well." Natsu remarked as he observed Gajeel's interaction with Wendy. They seemed to get along well. Wendy's eyes widened at the revelation.

"You can use your magic too?" Wendy asked Gajeel, who gave Wendy a small nod before responding.

"Yeah that Mystogan guy flicked some small ball down my throat before sending me off, said it'd let me use my magic here." Gajeel explained as Natsu raised an eyebrow. He never recalled getting one of these 'small balls' from Mystogan, and if the cloaked wizard had slipped one in his food then he was going to have a serious conversation about slipping drugs into his food with Mystogan.

"I see, well regardless, we are headed out in order to find out where the rest of Fairy Tail was taken to." Natsu explained to Gajeel. "Care to join us?"

Gajeel shrugged. "I got better to do here, might as well save some of the guild, I'm ready to head out when you are." Gajeel responded.

Natsu nodded in acknowledgement. "Well the plan is to go to the capital before figuring out where the rest of your guild is. We'll figure out more when we reach our destination" Natsu said before he and Gajeel both stiffened at the small but audible sound of armor clanking. "We got more soldiers outside." Gajeel stated as Natsu snorted.

"They never learn, should we go teach them a lesson?" Natsu asked Gajeel with a dark smirk making Gajeel laugh out loud at the offer.

"I like the way you think Dragneel, let's go rough up some soldiers." Gajeel remarked as both he and Natsu calmly made their way out of the cafe, before Natsu glanced back over his shoulder, seeing the other three attempting to follow them.

"Stay here until we say it's safe to come out Wendy, the same goes for you Carla and Wendy." Natsu ordered as the three sat down sadly and Natsu made his way outside along with Gajeel.

The sight they were greeted with certainly didn't disappoint them. There were easily now two hundred soldiers outside the cafe, all in battle formations, causing Natsu and Gajeel to tense up just a little bit before Natsu let out a small laugh.

"They only sent this many? I think they're underestimating us just a bit Gajeel." Natsu remarked as he ignited his fists with the familiar energy, and Gajeel let out a small growl.

"Let's get this party started." Gajeel growled out as he swung his arm forward. " **Iron Dragon's Club!** " Gajeel called out as he shot his arm forward, which transformed into a large iron pillar that launched into the knight's defenses and sent at least a dozen of them tumbling as it mercilessly plowed into one knight after the other. And that was before Gajeel swung his arm to the left easily knocking down another two dozen knights, leaving them dazed before he withdrew his arm. "Pathetic." Gajeel snorted as he cracked his knuckles, before giving Natsu a challenging look to do better.

The knights in front of them seemed to recognize the threats in front of them and all charged upon the duo, making Natsu snort in amusement. "This'll be too easy." Natsu remarked. Bringing his hands together, with his left hand resting on top of his right fist, Natsu yelled out his first spell of the new fight. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Cataclysmic Jaw** " Natsu called out as a beam of blue energy leapt from his hands, before taking the form of a Dragon's head. The energy dragon raged forward as it slammed into the oncoming soldiers, sending them flying at Natsu and Gajeel raced into the shocked ranks, eager to out do the other.

" **Iron Dragon's Lance** " Gajeel yelled out as both of his arms took on the pillar like form from before, and Gajeel launched both of them forward, slamming into the soldiers with unrelenting force as a few soldiers were sent clean into unconsciousness from the blows themselves, while others were on the ground groaning from the bruises they received.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture** " Natsu called out as he thrusted his left arm forward with two fingers and his thumb pointing towards the knights in front of him, causing a magic seal to appear, and only a fraction of a second later, for the ground to detonate beneath the knights, sending them tumbling and even destroying the shoes of some of the knights. "Not even a challenge." Natsu muttered as he rushed further into the chaos filled ranks of the knights before calling out his next attack. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Fallen Judgement!** " Natsu yelled out as he brought his hands together behind his back, before thrusting them forward, causing a beam of energy to erupt from his hands and plow through even more soldiers that had risen up to take the place of their fallen partners. Blowing many in the army off of their feet and melting the armor of others, Natsu snorted at the lack of a challenge being given. "This isn't even a challenge." The son of Acnologia muttered in disappointment as he gestured to Gajeel to finish the soldiers off.

As both Slayers took in a deep breath, the few remaining soldiers in front of them seemed to realize what a bad idea it was to take the unlikely alliance on. " **Iron Dragons-** " Gajeel started.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's-** " As did Natsu.

" **Roar!** " Both Dragon Slayers called out as a tornado of metal and a torrent of blue launched themselves from their respective caster's mouths, effectively obliterating any and all knights who once stood against them, and a good portion of the town square.

"You would think that over a hundred soldiers would be able to take down two Dragon Slayers." Natsu muttered as he observed the destruction they had caused. The road was in shambles, downed knights laid everywhere, and some buildings had chunks blown out of them as well. Overall, it looked like an asteroid had landed in the middle of the town. Snorting, Natsu turned to Gajeel. "C'mon, we have a capital to reach." Natsu muttered as he walked back into the cafe to retrieve his allies.

Upon seeing Gajeel and Natsu's re-entry, the three others from Earthland ran up to them, some more worried than others. Wendy had quickly ran across the cafe's old wooden floors to the two elder Dragon Slayers who didn't even look the slightest bit tired from wiping out an army.

"Are you two okay?" Wendy called out as she checked Natsu and Gajeel up and down for any wounds, making Natsu chuckle and Gajeel snort in amusement. The little girl was acting like they had just fought some immensely powerful, not a bunch of worthless soldiers.

"We're fine Wendy, but we are burning daylight and we have a capital to get to." Natsu told Wendy as he brushed a little dirt off of his shoulder before grabbing his cloak and gesturing to the door. "We should get moving again." With that, the group and now with the addition of Gajeel all made their way towards the capital, all ready to find out where Fairy Tail was being held.

* * *

It took them substantially less time to reach the capital than they thought it might, after having Natsu… commandeer, for the lack of a better term, a small carriage from a farm they passed, they flew towards the capital. There was little talk on the way to the capital, besides the occasional groan of discomfort from Gajeel who appeared to have some sort of motion sickness, which Natsu tucked away in his brain for future use.

On the ride there, they encountered no trouble as well. Natsu was unsure of whether the kingdom was weary about sending another battalion to be destroyed by him and Gajeel, or if the next battalion simply hadn't found them yet. Either way, Natsu wasn't complaining about their luck. The only stop they made was for the night where Natsu simply pulled the horses to the side of the road and told everyone to go to sleep, an order that was met with no resistance. They made it to the gates they were currently standing at around eleven the next morning.

Letting out a small snort as he gazed at the unfortified gates of the capital of the entire kingdom, Natsu prepared to kick them down. It was clear that there was some sort of celebration going on within the walls of the city, but to be honest, Natsu didn't really care. He just wanted to get this over with and to be able to shove it in the Titania's face that he had saved her ass.

Natsu blinked at his last though. Why had he thought of Erza? Shaking the thought to the side, Natsu glanced at Gajeel who was waiting for him to give some sort of signal so he could kick the doors down. Rolling his eyes, Natsu prepared himself to give Gajeel a signal when he heard a loud landing behind him. Sighing, Natsu turned to see a slightly bandaged, but familiar looking Fairy Hunter.

"Knightwalker." Natsu stated as he folded his arms across his chest. Of course he had to run into the damned Fairy Hunter again. The angered redhead glared at Natsu before responding.

"You have twenty seconds to leave the city boundaries before I bring an army down on your head outlaw." Knightwalker growled at Natsu rolled his eyes. Threatening him? After the ass-kicking he gave her earlier? Not the best idea.

"First off, my name is Natsu Dragneel, but pricks like you tend to call me Salamander." Natsu began as he gave Knightwalker a bored look. "Second, I don't take orders from you, and third, you most certainly are not going to stop me from getting Wendy's guild back, whether you do or don't have an army at your backs." Natsu snapped at Knightwalker who growled at Natsu's sarcastic response of rebelliousness.

"Fine then, the Royal Army shall have your head." Erza growled as he snapped her fingers and Natsu saw three more Legions headed his way, each with dozens of soldiers on their backs. Raising his eye at the challenge, Natsu grinned.

"Now this is what I'm talking about. Gajeel, take Wendy inside and find Fairy Tail, I'll meet up with you after I'm done here." Natsu ordered to Gajeel who gave a nod before turning to Wendy, who sighed before following Gajeel to the unfortified gates, with Gajeel kicked down before quickly running inside with the smaller Dragon Slayer, both of the cats in tow.

"You against an army? A poor choice Dragneel." Knightwalker stated as she drew her spear while the other three legions landed and soldiers poured out, making Natsu crack his neck in anticipation.

"Now I get to really cut loose, you and hood were fun, but I can't wait to take on you and an army, you're spoiling me Knightwalker, you really are." Natsu chuckled as he lit his fists with blue, making some of the soldiers shift nervously. So they'd heard what he had done to their friends? Good, they should be afraid. He was about to cut them a new one. "It's a good thing that you have both yourself and an army, Knightwalker, otherwise this might be to easy." Natsu quipped as he drew his katana from his waist and held it in his right hand, igniting his left in the blue and grinning at the Royal Army division in front of him.

"You really are arrogant aren't you?" Knightwalker stated, disdain clear in her voice. "Do you even know who I am? I am Erza Knightwalker, captain of the second division of the Royal Army, I take orders only from the King himself, I wield my 10 commandments, who do you think you are to stand against my division of the army?!"

Natsu snorted at Knightwalker's desperate show for power. "And I'm arrogant, I guess I'll play along if we're throwing titles around." Natsu stated as his power level spiked, forcing some of the knights to lean on their weapons to stay upright. "I am Natsu Dragneel, son of the Dragon King Acnologia, Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse, Bane of the Oración Seis and brother of Zeref." Natsu growled as his power rose. "And yes, I will stand against your army, come get some." Natsu stated darkly as he launched himself towards the Royal Army. It was going to be a massacre.

The first battalion bravely met Natsu head on, but it was all in vain. The Dragon Slayer launched himself at the first man, using him as a toad stool to launch himself in the air as he coated his katana in energy and swung it downward as he descended, stabbing the blade into the earth. When the blade met the ground, a shock wave was sent out, flooring the entire first of three battalions. Shellshocked at the display of power that he exhibited, the second and third battalions nervously charged together towards Natsu, who grinned at the approaching army.

"I can smell your fear." Natsu remarked as he sheathed his sword at his waist and brought his hands together, the left palm resting open on top of his right fist. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Cataclysmic Jaw** " Natsu chanted as a blue dragon head leaped from Natsu's hands and crashed head on into the oncoming army, blowing at least three dozen tightly packed soldiers off of their feet as the dragon detonated upon impact with the soldiers.

Growling, Knightwalker leapt down and drew her spear before pointing it at Natsu. " **Gravity Core** " Knightwalker called out as he spear shifted forms, this time taking on the form of a black arrowhead as she thrusted the spearhead at Natsu, who felt the gravity around him multiply by several times.

Growling, Natsu combusted the backs of his heels and launched himself at the surprised Knightwalker, who quickly shifted into her **Sylferion** form in order to evade the oncoming Dragon Slayer. Rocketing past her and nailing a soldier that stood behind her, Natsu growled as he picked the man up and threw him towards other knights that were advancing towards him, knocking three other soldiers down as well before turning his attention back to Knightwalker, who was staring at him dangerously.

Natsu only grinned savagely at the Edolas version of Erza before disappearing into a blue mist, making Erza's eyes widen as she upped her guard and shouted to her men to do the same. It was to no avail however, as Knightwalker watched hopelessly as Natsu flashed in suddenly and nailed the man to her right with a savage backfist to the man, knocking him backwards and sending him into unconsciousness.

Natsu was having a great time. He got to take on an entire army and they were basically nothing to him. He was tearing through the army like it was nothing, striking one guy before disappearing, then reappearing and knocking the spit out of another, rinse and repeat.

Eventually growing bored of, and running out of, unsuspecting opponents to knock out. Finally reappearing for the first time in minutes, Natsu laughed out loud at what surrounded him. He had knocked out an easy forty soldiers with his surprise tactics. "Come on Knightwalker, I thought you guys were going to be a challenge, I've barely broken a sweat." Natsu called out as he cracked his neck and gave Knightwalker and her remaining two dozen men an expecting look.

Knightwalker angrily stabbed her spear in the ground at the sight of all of her fallen men. "How the hell have you done this?! My division is the best in the army and you tore through them like they were nothing!"  
"Then your army sucks." Natsu stated bluntly. "I could never do this to three legions of Rune Knights back home, your guys just sit there like ducks waiting to be smacked. I'm just about done with you guys here so I'm gonna wrap this up." Natsu said with a grin as he crossed his arms in front of him and balled his fists, as he began to glow a bright blue, a sign of supercharging energy. "Haven't used this one since my fight with the bastard who still owes me a coat, be honored I'm using it now." Natsu growled out as the survivors of his massacre took a step back before Natsu unleashed his attack. " **Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Armageddon** " Natsu called out as a supernova like burst erupted from his body, flooring Knightwalker and her men and rendering anyone standing, or attempting to stand up into unconsciousness, or even into a comatose like state if they were unlucky enough.

When the dust cleared, Natsu gave a bored look at his fallen enemies. Sure he had fun, but they weren't really a challenge. He didn't even have to try out his new more powerful spells against them and he barely used his sword. Natsu rolled his eyes before a wave of nausea rolled over him, forcing him to his knees.

Letting out a pitiful groan, Natsu knew exactly what was wrong with him. Using his secret art and teleporting so frequently had just accelerated his Dragonification at a rapid rate. Natsu supposed that it was a punishment for being so reckless in his magic usage

"Well now that was quite the show." Came the calm voice from behind Natsu. Wheeling around, Natsu saw the hooded Harbinger from before drop from the top of the city's wall and roll as he hit the ground before standing up and making his way over to Natsu, who was still trying to shrug off the Dragonification sickness.

"What, here to kill me when I'm nauseous?" Natsu growled at Harbinger who chuckled at Natsu as he made his way over. Natsu still couldn't shake the weird feeling he had about Harbinger, he seemed familiar, but Natsu just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Don't be absurd, there'd be no sport in it, and we both know that we hate winning unfair fights don't we?" Harbinger remarked as he held out his hand for Natsu to take. Natsu eyed the hand for a few seconds before deciding to bite the bullet and grabbed it, hoisting himself up and quickly drawing his sword to lean on.

"Why the hell didn't you just kill me to make the king happy." Natsu snorted as he felt his sword dig into the earth. He just needed to make it a few more minutes for the sickness to pass…

Harbinger seemed to roll his eyes at Natsu. "The King's contract ended yesterday, and he hasn't issued a new one, I'm free to help whom I please." Was the calm reply of the Bounty Hunter who gave Natsu a once over. "You do truly look like shit, and it clearly wasn't from the fight, what the bloody hell just happened to you?"

Natsu growled at what he knew was probably true, but then sighed in relief as he felt the sickness start to leave his mind. The last thing he needed was for that to happen in a fight. "I guess you could say I'm sick." Natsu replied as he shifted his weight off his sword.

"That why you got those scales on your neck?" Harbinger asked, making Natsu raise his hand to the back of his neck, and sure enough, he felt cool scales where his skin used to be. Grumbling as he adjusted his scarf to hide the new scales, Natsu responded.

"It's a parting 'gift' from my father," was all Natsu said on the matter, making Harbinger raise an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say his name was Acnologia?" Harbinger asked, making Natsu's eyes widen drastically.

"How the hell did you know that?" Natsu growled at Harbinger who gave a shrug.

"Same name as the cranky old bastard who trained me to be a bounty hunter." Harbinger replied as he gave Natsu a once over. "I really thought that the earthland version of myself would have less dirt in his hair." Harbinger quipped as he lowered his hood, giving Natsu a view of the spiky, pink, and yes cleaner, hair and onyx eyes that matched Natsu's. It suddenly clicked in Natsu's mind why Harbinger seemed so familiar to him. Harbinger was the Edolas Natsu Dragneel

"You're me." Natsu stated bluntly, making his doppleganger roll his eyes.

"And I'm you." Harbinger responded as he tapped Natsu on the shoulder. "C'mon, you're planning to raid the capital and I've got a few bounties that need collecting, we can scratch each other's backs here, but first, let's find your friends." The Edolas Natsu stated as he made his way to the kicked open gates and followed in Gajeel's footsteps, Natsu right at his side.

"So," Natsu asked as they made their way down the streets. "How'd the old bastard leave you in this world," Natsu asked Harbinger, who rolled his eyes at the question and pulled his hood back up.

"The 'old bastard' as you so eloquently put it is still around and is taking bounties. The name Acnologia is quite feared in my business." Harbinger stated as took a sharp left, nearly cutting Natsu off, who snorted in response.

* * *

It didn't take them long to find Gajeel, Wendy and the cats, Gajeel was yelling at some street vendor about shabby music or something, making Natsu facepalm as he pointed out the raven haired Dragon Slayer to Harbinger, who chuckled at the sight before making his way over with Natsu, who tapped Gajeel making him whirl around.

"Whadda ya wan- oh it's just Dragneel." Gajeel stated as he looked Harbinger up and down. "and he's brought a friend."  
Wendy let out a yelp as she hid behind Gajeel. "Natsu! That's the guy who attacked us earlier!" Wendy called out to Natsu, who raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"I am aware, but he's apparently agreed to help us since he has some business we can help him out with, and he can help us out in our search for Fairy Tail apparently." Natsu stated as he gave Harbinger an expectant look. "And you would not believe who the sonovabitch really is." Natsu stated as he yanked Harbinger's hood down, causing Wendy's jaw to drop, Happy and Carla's eyes to widen and Gajeel's eyes to widen before he started laughing.

"So that's how it is!" Gajeel said as Harbinger gave Natsu a half hearted glare as he pulled his hood back up. Did he really have to do that? Probably not, was it worth it? Definitely.

"There are two Natsu's!" Happy cried out in confusion making Natsu chuckle.

"You didn't say anything when we saw the other Wendy." Natsu commented, making Happy pause.

"That's cause they looked so different!" Happy protested, which gained Wendy's attention.

"How did we look so different!" Wendy demanded from Happy, making Natsu snort at the accusation.

"I can think of two reasons." Natsu muttered under his breath, causing a small smile to break out on the scared blue exceed's face. "Anyways that's not the point here, the point is that Harbinger's going to help us." Natsu stated. "And not betray us otherwise I'd break every bone in his body." Natsu added on as an underlying threat, making Harbinger roll his eyes.

"You're such a warm person. But yes, what I know about the… 'Fairy Tail' of yours is that it would be that." Harbinger said as he halfheartedly pointed upwards to a floating island that contained a giant blue lacrima.

"Fairy Tail… is a crystal?" Natsu asked, wanting to make sure that he had heard Harbinger correctly. It wasn't everyday that you learned that the people you were here to rescue were actually a rather large blue crystal.

"That would be correct. The King is planning to use the crystal's magic power to use for himself-" was as far as Harbinger got before Gajeel cut him off.

"They're gonna use Fairy Tail as god damned batteries?! Why?!" Gajeel demanded, making Harbinger raise an eyebrow.

"You were made aware that magic power is exceedingly rare in Edolas right? Only those given permission by the king are allowed to use it legally." Harbinger stated with a raised eyebrow.

Natsu snorted. "I pretty much figured that out by now, considering you were hunting down guilds. What I want to know, is why in god's name do the people let this crazed nutjob of a king use other people as magical batteries just because they don't have any magic left." Natsu snarled at Harbinger who didn't flinch at the change in tone.

"The people are getting desperate, and the king plans to release all the magic at once, he claims it'll flow through the air forever." Harbinger stated. "Meaning that he plans to detonate the lacrima to release it's magic." Harbinger said as he watched both Natsu and Gajeel growl at the revelation, while Wendy looked close to tears.

"Gajeel, I think we have an empire to topple." Natsu growled as his eyes started to glow blue, and Gajeel nodded as he magic started to flow off of him.

"Let's go overthrow a government." Was all Gajeel said as both he and Natsu took one look at the skyline to find the castle, and took off in a angered sprint towards where the king lived. Both of them eager to teach the king why you don't mess with something important to a dragon.

"Oh the King is going to be in for a shock." Harbinger muttered under his breath as he took off after the angered Dragon Slayers, leaving the other three to follow shortly afterwards. On this day, a government would fall.

* * *

 _ **Alright, so that was Chapter 9 and I did hold up my end of the promise to update by Sunday. I said Sunday right? Screw it, now it's Sunday. Anyways, as you can see I'm making some rather major changes to the Edolas arc, pretty much removing Extalia all together and just making Faust into a bit more of a nutjob than before. And he pissed off both Gajeel and Natsu, not a smart move. I swear these chapter keep getting longer too, this one's like 8.4k**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and lemme know what you thought, and don't hesitate to send me any questions that you have, and with that, I'll see you guys later.**_

 _ **~Solo**_


	10. The Fall of a Kingdom

Natsu and Gajeel both growled as they raced down the streets of the capital towards the looming castle. Both Dragon Slayers were set in a grim determination to tear down a castle and the glow from Natsu's eyes had yet to fade. Any guard foolish enough to attempt to step in front of them was flattened with extreme prejudice.

Quirking his ears, Natsu let out a small growl as he heard a mass of cheering not too far away, and someone preaching about something. Deciding it to be of interest, Natsu voiced the thought to Gajeel.

"Gajeel!" Natsu called out as they rounded another corner, drawing closer to the sound he had heard. As the Iron Dragon Slayer's head rounded back to him, Natsu continued. "I can hear some sort of celebration not far from here, check it out quickly then meet me at what might remain of the castle." Natsu ordered as Gajeel nodded and split off from Natsu, eager to raze another squad of guards into the ground.

Gajeel let his ears guide him as the cheering grew louder in his ears. Whoever was speaking had left, but that was the only significant change. Upon arrival, Gajeel growled at what he saw. A chunk of the Lacrima that was Fairy Tail, which had clearly been hacked off the large one, was sitting in the middle of the city square, with a crowd of people cheering around a small group of guards which were guarding the crystal.

 _I wonder if they even know…_ Gajeel thought as he slowed to a walk, as he knew that a sprinting man towards a highly prized lacrima would draw unwanted attention. Gajeel almost snorted when the guards let him approach the lacrima that contained Fairy Tail. The brief thought of maybe half of a Fairy Tail member inside while the other half was still inside the main lacrima flickered through Gajeel's mind, but he decided not to dwell on it. He had no idea how these crystals worked. _More importantly, do these guards know that Dragneel is about to tear their king apart?_

Making the quick decision to make sure that Natsu had less guards to deal with, Gajeel lept into action against the six guards that were posted at the lacrima. Quickly walking up to one drew the guard's attention, who raised their hand in the effort to make Gajeel halt, but the Iron Dragon Slayer was having none of it. " **Iron Dragon's Club** " Gajeel snarled as his arm shifted into a pillar of iron and rocketed into the guard's stomach, downing the man in one hit.

The other guards quickly readied their weapons and charged Gajeel, who grunted at the lack of a challenge. Sidestepping the first one to make it to him, Gajeel grabbed the guard by the back of his neck and hefted the guard over himself, throwing him into the next guard, sending them both tumbling, knocking out the first and dazing the second. A quick kick the head send him into the realm of the dreaming as well.

With three guards left, they weren't stupid enough to try to rush him one on one, all three guards charged at Gajeel together, and the Iron Dragon Slayer only grunted as he growled out his next spell. " **Iron Dragon's Sword** " Gajeel growled as he swung his now bladed arm at the three guards, catching all three of them and even tearing the armor off of two of them, downing all three men. Unfortunately, Gajeel was expecting more resistance in the armor and his arm's momentum kept flying forward after tearing through the guards. And right into the Lacrima that was Fairy Tail.

Quickly hopping back and pulling his arm out of the lacrima as well as turning it back to normal, Gajeel inspected the damage. There was barely a crack where he had hit it, but a small light was seeping through it. A loud crack was heard as the 'small crack' suddenly widened to massive proportions and more light began to pour out, making it so that Gajeel had to shield his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded.

A rush of magical energy was suddenly released from the crystal, pushing Gajeel back a few feet as the Iron Dragon Slayer raised his arms to protect his head from the winds that were being released from the shattering crystal. Grunting in resistance, Gajeel dug the heels of his feet into the ground to prevent himself from being pushed further backwards and held his ground until the light finally began to die down.

Blinking the spots from his eyes, Gajeel lowered his arms from his face in order to see what had happened to the crystal, hoping that he hadn't just killed several Fairy Tail members by accident. What Gajeel saw was not at all what he had expected. Instead of shattered remains of a crystal, two _very_ familiar mages stood before him, looking more confused than anything. Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet both had been trapped inside the lacrima that Gajeel had accidentally destroyed.

"Gajeel… what is happening? Why do I feel so… weak?" Erza asked Gajeel, who noted that both mages also looked rather exhausted after being freed. Gajeel let out a small snort at the question.

"Long story short, guild got sucked up by a giant portal called an Anima, now we're in a different dimension called Edolas, and the King here wants to turn all of Fairy Tail into giant human batteries. Seems like a bad outcome." Gajeel summed up as Gray and Erza both gave him an odd look.

"Riiight... " Gray trailed off as Gajeel rolled his eyes at the non-believing Ice Make wizard.

"Try using your magic ice boy." Gajeel snapped at Gray, who shrugged and tried to charge up a basic ice spell, only to have his eyes widen when he found out that he simply could not conjure any magic to his hands. "Told ya." Gajeel said triumphantly a Gray's stumped expression. Patting his pockets down for something, Gajeel quickly produced a small bottle filled with small orange balls. Noting that he had forgotten to give one to Wendy, and that Natsu for some reason didn't need one, he held two out to Erza and Gray.

"Here, crazy son of a gun who sent me here said these'd let me use magic. They work." Gajeel told both of the still confused mages as they both hesitantly took the small orange pill that had been handed to them. "I think he called 'em X-balls or somethin'" Gajeel muttered as a blue flash lit up in the distance, making Gajeel sigh, Natsu was getting all the fun.

"What was that?" Gray asked Gajeel, who shrugged.

"Look's like Dragneel's having a party over there." Gajeel noted, making both Erza and Gray stumble in surprise.

"Natsu Dragneel?!" They shouted in unison, making Gajeel raise an eyebrow at them.

"Yeah, that'd be the one, crazy son of a gun's already taken on an army twice now and looks like he's going to come out victorious both times. Barely leaves any guys for me." Gajeel noted sourly as he ignored the baffled expressions on both Gray and Erza's faces.

"C'mon, I'll explain why we're overthrowin' the monarchy on the way, let's go overthrow a kingdom." Gajeel called out as he started to run towards the castle, leaving the stupefied Gray and Erza to follow him.

* * *

Natsu would say that he was having the time of his life if he wasn't still enraged at what the king had done. Even as a former dark mage he had boundaries, the entire Oración Seis did. Torturing and killing people were deemed acceptable if necessary, but holding people hostage and exploiting them for their magic power was a line that even those six members of the Balam Alliance did not cross.

Maybe that was why Natsu chose to accept Brain's offer to join. The Oración Seis did have some sort of twisted sense of honor among them, and Natsu apparently liked it. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Natsu plowed through another guard, knocking him head over heels as he heard his Edolas self fire an electric shot that bounced from the armor of each guard, shocking at least a dozen and knocking them out flat.

Deciding that he'd had enough of tearing through paper soldiers, Natsu took a deep breath and most of the army's eyes widened at the attack they'd heard had taken out battalions before now. His eyes snapping open, Natsu snapped towards the army that stood before him and the castle doors before letting out a fierce yell, accompanied by his famous attack. " **Apocalypse Dragons' Roar!** " Natsu roared as the familiar torrent of blue tore through the army and blasted the castle doors clean off of their hinges, sending them deep into the castle where Natsu heard several servants cry out in surprise.

Headbutting a guard as he tried to stand up and stop him, Natsu turned to Harbinger with an expecting look. "Well, we have a king to overthrow, best not keep him waiting." Natsu said tauntingly as he blasted another struggling guard as he walked towards the castle doors over the piles of unconscious guards.

In that moment, Natsu Dragnoia couldn't help but notice that his counterpart looked like nothing but a demon straight from hell. The way he fought, the way his enemies lay broken before him, and the fact that nothing could ever get in his way sent shivers down Harbinger's spine.

The castle hall was empty, the grand stone pillars laid abandoned and the throne where the king would usually sit lay empty. Sunlight still filtered in through the windows, providing plenty of light and not too many shadows for anyone to hide in, something Natsu took note of as he entered the hall. The rich red carpets seemed to scream in outrage as Natsu carelessly let the mud from his military boots smear all over the luxury. Natsu quirked his ears as he stopped dead in his tracks shortly after entering, making Harbinger almost walk into him.

"Preferably, warn someone when you are going to stop." Harbinger stated as he recovered from quickly sidestepping the salmon haired Dragon Slayer, who sent a halfhearted glare his way.

"We aren't alone, there are two people watching us. Neither are very strong." Natsu noted as his two stalkers decided to step out into the light. Natsu quickly drew his sword as he saw the blonde and purple haired man walk toward them, their footsteps echoing off the silent stone corridor as Natsu narrowed his eyes at them.

The blonde was adorning some ridiculously pink armor and appeared to be lacking a pair of pants. He had what Natsu could only call an ass for a a chin and seemed to be far too confident in himself as he strode towards the duo of Dragon Slayer and Bounty Hunter. A blade with a rose handle hung at his hip and Natsu looked forward to seeing how well he could use it.

The other man seeme to be a bit more calm and collected. He donned a long white cloak, and unlike his adversary, was wearing pants, white ones that matched the cloak. He wore a black shirt under the cloak and had very strange arrow like eyebrows that rubbed Natsu the wrong way. He held some sort of stick as his side that Natsu sighed at. Did the guy think he was going to poke him to death?

"Well, I do suppose we owe you some sort of congratulations on your amazing defeat of the Royal Army… twice." Said the purple haired man, which Natsu noticed, had a streak of white in his hair as well. Eh, who was he to judge, his was salmon.

"Yes, it was most impressive." The blonde man agreed as Natsu rolled his eyes and drew his katana from his hip, having lost his cloak a while ago it was no use trying to hide the blade anymore.

"Am I gonna get some names before I beat you senseless or are we jumping straight to the action?" Natsu asked as he twirled the katana in his hands, making the blonde man raise an eyebrow. They really do that a lot here don't they?

"Oh, he has a fire in him. I suppose it's only polite to introduce myself, my name is Sugarboy, Captain of the 4th division of the royal army. Charmed." Sugarboy introduced himself as the purple haired man gave him a look.

"Name's Hughes, and sorry, but we aren't going to let you get any closer to the king. We gotta job to do after all." Hughes said with a shrug as Natsu growled and stabbed his katana at Hughes daringly.

"Lotta talk for a guy who just had his army flattened." Natsu said with a snarl as he slowly advanced towards the duo. "Harbinger, go find the king, these two'll only be a minute." Natsu said threateningly, as Harbinger shrugged and turned down a hallway to find the king.

After staring down both of his opponents, Natsu dawned a feral grin as he vanished in a flash of blue, causing both opponents to raise their guard due to their sudden lack of an enemy.

"You know I won't be able to do much out here away from the theme park." Hughes stated to Sugarboy, who only nodded.

"Go get the bounty hunter then, I knew we should never had trusted him." Sugarboy said with a small amount of distaste as Hughes checked his surrounding and bolted for the door, only for Natsu to quickly reappear and boot Hughes out the door towards Harbinger. Can't be hogging all the fun for himself now can he?

"1 on 1, somehow less fair than before." Natsu said with boredom as he calmly twirled his katana in his hand and Sugarboy drew his rose sword and the two charged each other. The two met in a flurry of sparks. Natsu immediately slashed at Sugarboy's wrist in the hopes of removing a hand, only for Sugarboy to twist his sword and block the katana before pushing the blade off and slicing at Natsu's check, which the Dragon Slayer parried and booted Sugarboy backwards, making the pink-clad man stumble a bit, but his armor was heavy. Natsu felt like he had just kicked a refrigerator backwards.

Sugarboy twirled his blade before stabbing at Natsu, who sidestepped and cut at Sugarboy's face, which the other man quickly blocked before forcing Natsu's blade off of his own. Natsu smiled at the swordsmanship. His opponent knew what he was doing. Granted Natsu hadn't busted out his magic yet, and could cleave that little toy of his in two if he wanted, but Natsu decided to find out who was the better swordsman first, then he could beat him to a bloody pulp.

Releasing a flurry of strikes, each one pushing the pink-clad man further back, and each one closer to defeat, Natsu was more than confident he was the better blademaster, but it still didn't explain the god damned smirk on Sugarboy's face. Shrugging it off as he went in to slice open Sugarboy's armor, he was momentarily surprised when Sugarboy blocked the blow and his smirk widened.

"You truly are a master of the blade, but how are you without it?" Sugarboy asked in an oh so smug tone as he twisted his blade slightly and called out a spell, which made Natsu's eyes widen further than he thought possible. " **Rosa Espada: Liquify!** " Sugarboy called out as Natsu watched in horror as he beloved katana's blade melted right in front of him, leaving only the hilt in his hands. Taking a stumbling step back, Natsu was horrified. Not of the power that Sugarboy had, no he was going to strangle that smug pink man with his intestines, but horrified at the fact that he had just lost the biggest gift given to him by his second father.

That sword was special. Forged by Acnologia himself for Natsu's 14th birthday, the birthday before he had left a 15 year old boy who had no idea how the outside world worked by himself. Natsu remembered some snide remark from the Ancient Dragon Slayer when he gave Natsu the sword that he would have an easier time surpassing him if he used his own blade instead of one of the old ones that Natsu kept finding, and Acnologia kept breaking on his scales when they fought. The same sword he had carried with him for 6 years now, and at the sword that he felt naked without. Without that blade, the last physical memory of Acnologia that Natsu carried with him was gone. All thanks to that god damned pink-armored man.

"Oops," Sugarboy mocked at Natsu's expression. "Did I do that?"

In that moment, something snapped inside Natsu. He felt hatred, hatred he had not felt for another in a long time. Dislike he felt often, but Natsu had not truly hated another for qutie some time, not even when Acnologia had killed Igneel, not when Erza had stabbed him, but now. He had destroyed Natsu's greatest gift from Acnologia, one he had promised to look after with care. And that god damned pink armored bastard was going to pay.

Growling as he slowly placed the hilt on his waist, Natsu let out a feral snarl as his eyes erupted into a blue light, with small wisps of blue trailing off, his hand erupting into the blue as he stalked menacingly towards Sugarboy, who looked beyond afraid and confused as what had just happened. He just melted the guy's sword, was that such a huge problem.

"You know," Natsu growled "I was going to let you live at the beginning of our fight, but now, I'm not so sure." The enraged Dragon Slayer snarled as he kept advancing towards Sugarboy, who kept taking steps back. The blonde elvis ripoff opened his mouth to speak but Natsu cut him off instantly. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture,** " Natsu growled as the ground beneath Sugarboy's feet exploded, sending him flying towards Natsu who had no plans of ending this quickly. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw,** " Natsu called out as he brought his foot down on the top of Sugarboy's head and send him crashing into the ground.

Sugarboy let out a shout of pain as he face became acquainted with the now cracked stone floors and tried in vain to raise his arm to stop Natsu, who only grabbed the arm and twisted it around Sugarboy's back until a sick pop was heard and Sugarboy cried out as his now dislocated arm screamed at him in pain.

"Oh quit whining. **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu yelled at Sugarboy before nailing him in the forehead and causing Sugarboy's eyes to roll into the back of his head before he slumped to the ground unconscious. Snorting at how easily his opponent was to defeat, Natsu debated throwing him off one of the floating islands and letting gravity decide if he lived or died. Natsu honestly didn't care.

Plucking the hilt of what used to be a beautiful katana from his waist, Natsu let out a heavy sigh at the light and unbalanced weight in his hands. The king was going to pay for his sword as well as kidnapping most of Fairy Tail. Giving the black handle a once over, Natsu decided that he could probably get someone to put a new blade in the hilt, so it wasn't completely lost, but rendered utterly useless until it was fixed.

Letting out a sigh, Natsu calmly slid the hilt back to his waist, noting that he could move considerably faster without a blade blocking his leg and set off on a small job down the corridor that Harbinger had went down, and Natsu had given Hughes a surprise trip down. The signs of a small battle were clear here. A few tapestries were scorched or even still burning, and hints of ice lingered on some of the walls, and a few pieces of the wall looked like they had decided to move themselves around the hallway, making the castle look more like a warzone than a luxury.

Raising an eyebrow as Harbinger came into view, Natsu almost let out a small chuckle at the scene. Harbinger was standing there with one boot on an unconscious Hughes' head while he calmly checked his gun to make sure it was fine. Noting Natsu's presence, he snorted before responding.

"What took you so long, I've been done for like 5 minutes now." Harbinger asked as he deemed his gun healthy and slid it onto the sheath on his back. Natsu sighed before responding.

"Would've been over in seconds, but the bastard had the nerve to melt my sword." Natsu said, gesturing to the now just hilt on his hip, making Harbinger raise his eyebrow before reaching to his waist, unsheathing the Gurkha blade he kept there and tossing it to Natsu, who caught the blade quickly before giving Harbinger an odd look, who shrugged in response.

"You needed a blade, you have one, just make sure to give it back, I like that knife." Harbinger said as he plucked a pistol from his waist and gestured for Natsu to follow him, which Natsu did with a nod as he slipped the blade in his belt to be sheathed until he needed it.

"We've got a monarch to overthrow." Natsu said in response as he took the lead and began to make his way to the scent of arrogance and greed, which Natsu figured was probably the king.

They didn't have to look far, as the second they rounded the next corner, Natsu and Harbinger were met with a battalion of guards who all stood in a defensive position in front of closed doors, where Natsu figured the king most likely was hiding out in. Raising an eyebrow at the several rows of knights, Natsu gave a sideways glance to Harbinger. "Should I be honored that they're letting me fight stuff or insulted they're giving me so few guards." Natsu asked, making Dragnoia roll his eyes as he thumped Natsu on the back of his head.

"Focus Dragneel, we have a task to do." Harbinger calmly responded as he twirled his pistol on his hand, making Natsu scoff at the statement as if he was offended, and he probably was.

"Please, as if that few guards will be a problem." Was all Natsu said before turning to the fortifications and placed his left palm on top of his right hand. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Cataclysmic Jaw**!" Natsu shouted as a magic circle appeared and a blue dragon leapt from his hands into the fortified ranks, tearing through them like paper and successfully knocking out a good majority of the guards, the rest of whom now stool quivering in their boots. Turning to Harbinger with a bored look, he spoke again. "Told you."

"You didn't get all of them."

"Yeah well you didn't do jack shit." Natsu retorted as Harbinger rolled his eyes. While he was secretly fascinated by the Dragon Slayer magic, he had better things to do at the moment, like taking out a king. If he pulled it off right he'd get quite the nice reward for removing the king from power, permanently.

Natsu gave the rest of the guards a bored look as they all scampered to their feet and raced away from the Dragon Slayer and Bounty Hunter. The former of which merely snorted at the retreating soldiers. Pitiful really.

"I'm gonna go finish them off so they don't get reinforcements, keep the king alive until I get back will you?" Natsu remarked as he calmly took off in a jog after the fleeing guards. And for what was a calm jog for Natsu, was basically an all out sprint for the guards, who yelled in terror as Natsu quickly gained on them, chasing them out of Harbinger's view.

The Bounty Hunter rolled his eyes as he pushed open the throne room doors and wasn't overly surprised to find it empty. He knew that the king wouldn't just be sitting on his throne while Natsu tore his castle apart. Old bastard probably hid somewhere that would take Harbinger just a bit to find. A price worth the effort.

Taking a few steps forward, Harbinger quickly backpedaled when a giant sword crashed down from the ceiling, making Harbinger sigh, of course it wouldn't be that easy. Harbinger calmly turned towards the black human like cat that was flying above Harbinger with an angry look in his eyes.

"Pantherlily." Harbinger calmly remarked as he drew his rifle from his back and cocked it. Shooting the flying cat was going to be a damn pain. The guy always flew at insane speeds, but he'd hit him eventually. Eventually.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you, Bounty Hunter." Pantherlily growled as Harbinger only rolled his eyes at the verbal attack.

"My contract was up yesterday, I did my part, now I'm doing my part again, and this bounty requires the head of one king." Harbinger calmly remarked as he switched his guns to his ice rounds, if he hit a wing then the cat'd be down for the count.

"You won't live to see the end of this bounty." Pantherlily growled, making Harbinger sigh at the useless conversation. They were going to fight, so why delay it?

"Let's just get this over with, Captain." Harbinger stated in a bored tone as a crack erupted from the front of his rifle, the icy round sailing towards Pantherlily, whose eyes widened at the attack. Raising his arm to protect himself, Pantherlily cried out in surprise when ice quickly overtook his entire arm, making it just a block of ice.

Wasting no time, Harbinger fired again, this time hitting a leg and rendering it immobile as Pantherlily cursed again. The large cat was now down two limbs. Another crack resonated and Pantherlily dove to the side to avoid another icy body part, he felt the chill of the bullet soar past his wing. Dive bombing Harbinger, the Bounty Hunter only sighed as he watched the giant exceed race towards him and tensed his legs in anticipation.

As the racing Pantherlily was about to make impact, Harbinger spun out of the way and in one fluid motion, drew his pistol from his hip and blasted Pantherlily in his right wing, freezing it instantly and dropping Pantherlily to the stone floor. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, Harbinger kept his pistol out as he approached the downed exceed, who was glaring at him with everything he had.

"Go on then, finish me." Pantherlily growled as Harbinger twirled his pistol on his finger, and sighed at the one track mind of the exceed in front of him. Kill him? Honestly, he wouldn't even get paid for it.

"You're always so barbaric Pantherlily, using strength as your main fighting style, relying on overpowering your enemies, and immediately expecting someone to kill you when they beat you in a fight." Harbinger said with a snort as he swiftly placing his pistol into the holster and crossing his arms. "You aren't worth anything dead so I've got no reason to kill you." Harbinger snorted.

"You are going to kill the king, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I allowed that." Pantherlily growled as Harbinger only raised an eyebrow.

"The same king who crashed your people's island into the ground hoping that it's magic would forever seep into the earth? I think we'll both be able to sleep just fine if Faust dies. Besides, you're the only exceed left in Edolas, and I'm not ready to be driving races to extinction yet." Harbinger quipped as he turned away from Pantherlily and began to inspect the room. "You could just tell me where he's hiding. It'd make my day easier."  
A snort from Pantherlily began the answer. "The King is going to activate it." Pantherlily said with a sigh, and making Harbinger raise an eyebrow.

"Not terribly in the mood to play the pronoun game, so please enlighten me as to what is."

This time the exceed captain let out a bitter laugh at the dry remark from the Bounty Hunter. "The Dorma Anim, he saw your doppleganger tear through his guards and thinks it'll be the only way to 'save the kingdom' as his majesty put it." Pantherlily spoke, but not without bitterness.

Harbinger stiffened when he heard the name. "I was under the impression that it was sealed away forever."

"The king's decided to change that. You and your allies have no chance." Pantherlily said as he angrily smashed his frozen arm on the ground and was awed as it shattered. He didn't know he could break the magic ice. Capitalizing on his freed limb, Pantherlily reached for his sword to cut down Harbinger, who was still distractedly searching the throne room for a hidden room in order to prevent the Dorma Anim from being activated. The First Royal Captain of Edolas hobbled his way over to the Bounty Hunter and just as he was going to bring the sword down, Harbinger twirled around, drew his pistol, switched it to electricity, and fired twice, nailing Pantherlily in the chest both times. This caused the black exceed to drop his blade as he convulsed and fell to the ground.

"Predictable." Harbinger muttered as he holstered his pistol and left the throne room. There was nothing there left for him besides the twitching Pantherlily. Sighing as he pulled down his hood and stepped out into the hallway, Harbinger began to make his way outside to warn his counterpart of the oncoming danger when he heard the Iron Dragon Slayer from before yell out behind him. Turning around, Harbinger's instincts kicked in as twirled to avoid an ice spell that was sailing towards him from behind

Arming himself with his handgun twirling around, his gun met the face of stunned Gray Fullbuster who raised his arms in surrender

"Damn it popsicle I told you it wasn't him!" Gajeel cried out in anger as he rushed towards the Bounty Hunter who looked like he very much wanted to pull that trigger. "Put the damn gun down Bounty Hunter, he's with us." Gajeel snapped as Harbinger only nodded and lowered his pistol, his eyes never leaving Gray however.

"Interesting way to introduce yourself." Harbinger noted as he holstered his firearm and took a step back as Gajeel approached, with a very familiar looking redhead behind him. "Knightwalker?" Harbinger asked in confusion at the red haired swordswoman in front of him, who gave him a small smile before responding.

"You appear to have my confused with my counterpart, my name is Erza Scarlet." Erza said as she extended her hand for Harbinger to take, which he did after only a moment's hesitation.

"Natsu Dragnoia, but you may call me Harbinger." Harbinger introduced himself as he shook Erza's hand. "Redfox we got trouble." Harbinger stated as he turned away from Erza, making the Iron Dragon Slayer raise an eyebrow. They were stuck in an alternate dimension where a power-crazy king held their guildmates captive to be slaves for magic power and _now_ they had trouble?

"What kinda trouble?" Gajeel asked as Harbinger sighed.

"The King's trying to activate the Dorma Anim. A giant automaton with the ability to-" Harbinger started as he was cut off by a loud mechanical roar. "Well it looks like you're about to find out." Harbinger finished as he raced toward a window and kicked it out, before gesturing the others to follow and he leapt out the window.

His companions followed in a more reasonable fashion, with Gray making a staircase out of his ice for them to follow Harbinger down the three stories that he had just dropped, and when they arrived they were surprised to find an unscathed Harbinger tapping his foot impatiently. "We have little time, let's go." Harbinger snapped as he started to lead the Fairy Tail mages to the source of the roar which appeared to be an old coliseum in the distance.

* * *

Natsu and Wendy knew it wasn't a natural dragon the second he heard the roar. Natsu remembered the way Igneel and Acnologia roared, and they were both filled with pride and power, this was filled with static and crackling, but little power and certainly no pride.

Wendy looked up from the patrol of guards that she'd almost been kidnapped by, before Natsu utterly obliterated them, and let out a small frown at the noise, that didn't sound like a real dragon at all.

Dropping the last guard that Natsu had just finished defeating, the elder Dragon Slayer turned around to see a bright light coming from an old coliseum outside the castle. Sighing, Natsu gestured for Wendy to follow him started into a sprint, deciding he might as well figure out what the hell was impersonating a dragon while he was still here.

Dusk was beginning to settle and Natsu decided that he'd rather find the damned fake dragon while he still had daylight, and not searching for it somewhat blindly in the night. Turning to the small blue-haired girl, he spoke.

"You did good in the fight Wendy, but I think we've got another one on our hands soon enough." Natsu called back to the little girl, who blushed at the compliment before racing after Natsu.

They only made it a few yards before he heard Gajeel call out at him from just outside the the castle gates. "Oi Dragneel, get your ass over here, we have a problem." Gajeel yelled at the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer, who sighed in response, before being covered in a flash of blue and reappearing next to Gajeel, who let out a small start of surprise before turning to gesturing to Harbinger, who raised an eyebrow at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Since the tin can is incapable of explaining what is going on, I suppose I will." Harbinger stated, making Gajeel growl at the small jab, and making Natsu roll his eyes and snap his fingers to gain their attention.

"Focus Harbinger, what's going on?"

The Bounty Hunter let out a small scoff before responding. "The King's unleashed the Dorma Anim, a giant mechanical Dragon that is nigh undefeatable, it's armor can reflect any type of magic attack." Harbinger explained, making Natsu scoff.

"Nothing's undefeatable, Redfox. You, Wendy and I are all Dragon Slayers, so let's go kill us a fake ass Dragon." Natsu stated as he gestured for the other Dragon-trained mages to follow him and sprinted off towards the beam of light.

Gray sweatdropped as he looked at the running mages. "He didn't even notice us did he?" Gray asked Harbinger, making the Bounty Hunter only shrug in response. Natsu did seem to get extremely focused on his goals, blocking out all others while he was working.

"It would appear that he did not." Erza confirmed as she requipped a sword into her hand and spun it around. "Come, let us assist them in their dragon slaying." Erza said as she attempted to move forward, before Harbinger stopped her, gaining an irritated and confused look from the scarlet-haired swordswoman.

Harbinger shrugged off her glare and responded. "That is Dragon Slayers slaying a Dragon, something tells me that we'll only get in the way, besides, we still have some guards to deal with." Harbinger stated as he gestured to one of the few remaining patrols of guards from Natsu's rampage, who looked relieved as they rounded the corner that they didn't have to fight the monster of a Dragon Slayer.

"These guys never learn do they?" Gray chuckled as he readied an attack.

"They don't seem to." Harbinger agreed as he drew his rifle.

Naturally, Natsu was the first to arrive at the arena, and wasn't impressed by what he saw. The Dorma Anim was a 35 foot tall solid steel that stood on two legs. It's eyes were bright red and couldn't look less like a fake dragon if it tried. It's teeth were painfully triangular and Natsu didn't even see the reason to put a mouth on the robot, wasn't like it was going to be used.

When Gajeel and Wendy both caught up to Natsu, they also expressed their distaste for the giant metal dragon, eventually gaining it's attention.

" **So! These are the brats who are ruining my kingdom** " the dragon yelled out in a voice that sounded surprisingly like an old man, making Natsu raise an eyebrow. So they were fighting who he assumed was the king in a dragon suit, not even a mechanical dragon. A rather large disappointment.

"I'll take it that you're the king that kidnapped their guild then." Natsu stated calmly as he let his magic flow out of his hands, surrounding him in an eerie blue glow, while Gajeel growled and cracked his knuckles. It was about time they finally overthrew a tyrant.

" **You can't scare me now you little brat! My Dorma Anim is invincible, not even you can take it down!** " The King called from inside the mechanical dragon, making Natsu only raise an eyebrow.

"I like a challenge." Was all Natsu said before he smirked and disappeared into a flash of cyan, leaving the king confused before he felt a giant impact on the top of the Dorma Anim which nearly sent it stumbling. Natsu had teleported on top of the dragon and unleashed a strong punch onto the dragon's head, making a sizable dent and causing Natsu to frown at the fact that he could down walls with that punch and he did little damage.

"Redfox, get your iron ass up here and help, you too Wendy." Natsu called out as he leaped off of the Dorma Anim and swung his arm at the mech as he fell. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture!** " Natsu called out and a large explosion overtook the front of the Dragon, knocking it back as Gajeel rushed forwards with a grin on his face.

" **Iron Dragon's Club!** " Gajeel called out as his arm transformed into the iron pillar and slammed into the joint of the arm and body, creating a dent in the armor, but mainly just pissing the king off in the process.

Gajeel lept back and Natsu rushed back in and delivered a smashing energy covered kick onto the dragon knight's foot, effectively removing one of the toes and maiming the metal dragon.

Faust let out a yell of anger as Natsu teleported back to Gajeel and Wendy

" **Impossible! No magic should be able to harm the Dorma Anim!** " Faust roared as Natsu rolled his eyes. He had just taken down an army and the king didn't think he could kill some half-ass of a dragon? Please.

"New flash, we're Dragon Slayers, we don't do impossible." Natsu stated as he turned to Wendy with a small smile. "Wanna get in on this one Wendy?" Natsu asked, to which Wendy only shook her head with a small smile.

"I'm better on support anyways." Wendy said as she took a deep breath before speaking. " **Fast wind that run the heaven... Vernier!** " Wendy chanted as a sky-blue glow surrounded Natsu and Gajeel, who both felt as if they could run down Racer with one leg tied to the other, but Wendy wasn't done yet. " **Power of the stout arms that tears heaven… Arms!** " Wendy chanted again, and another blue glow surrounded the other Dragon Slayers, who felt as if the could lift the heavens.

Natsu let out a laugh as he launched himself at the Dorma Anim at impossible speeds, his fists ignited as he slammed into the metal dragon, with Gajeel leaping into the air and inhaling deeply. " **Iron Dragon's Roar** " Gajeel yelled out as a torrent of metal bore down on the Dorma Anim, forcing it to the ground as Natsu flipped himself onto the dragon's head, grinning as he did so.

"Knock knock! **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu yelled out as he slammed his hand down on the fake dragon's neck, causing the head to give a sharp jerk as the dragon spun to shake Natsu off, eventually doing so as Natsu let himself be thrown back to Wendy with a grin on his face. His blood was pumping and Natsu was having the time of his life. The first real fight he'd had in Edolas this entire time was turning out to be more of a punching bag, but at least it could take the hits.

" **Outrageous! Simply blasphemous!** " Faust roared as he waved the arm of the Dragon Knight causing turrets to raise out of the dragon's shoulders, making Natsu raise an eyebrow. So the fake dragon did have a few toys. A barrage of missiles was sent at the Dragon Slayers, with Gajeel grabbing Wendy and racing out of the way, while Natsu simply raced towards the missiles with a crazed grin on his face.

After getting out of harm's way, Gajeel and Wendy turned back to the Dorma Anim, and their jaws both dropped at what they saw. Natsu raced towards the missiles flying towards him and right as he was about to crash into one, thrust himself into the air and then toadstooled off of the next missile, right onto the next, and then onto the next one before leaping onto the last one and lunging at Faust from the missile.

Gajeel was in shock as the missiles exploded against the empty ground. Natsu had not only dodged all of the missiles, he had used them as stepping stones in order to get closer to Faust. However Natsu's fancy footwork was in vain as Faust let out a yell of anger and swung his arm forward, and swatted Natsu into the ground like one might a fly, making Natsu growl in anger as he stood up, barely phased from the attack.

"I am not a fly." Natsu snarled as he disappeared in a flash of blue and reappeared in front of the Dorma Anim, and took a deep breath as he began to fall downwards. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu yelled as the torrent of blue slammed into the Dorma Anim with the speed of a freight train, sending the mech tumbling as Natsu landed and walked over to Gajeel and Wendy, his eyes glancing over both of them as he made sure they weren't seriously injured from the missiles. Not that he cared for their well being or anything, just taking down the giant mechanical dragon would be a pain without some backup.

Faust grunted dangerously at the Dragon Slayers as he stood up. " **Your attacks are nothing more than the bite of a fly! The Dorma Anim is invincible!** " Faust yelled at the Dragon Slayers as he fired a larger wave of missiles at them, making Natsu raise an eyebrow as he gestured for the other two to get away from them. Gajeel grabbed Wendy and took off to Natsu's right, leaving the son of Acnologia to stare down a fleet of missiles again, and narrowed his eyes at the challenge.

Sprinting straight at the barrage, Natsu slid under the first missile that approached him and fired a blast of energy at the next two, detonating them in the air and making the other explosives lose their lock on him. Pressing his advantage, Natsu charged through the smoke towards the Dorma Anim, determined to tear a large chunk out of the fake dragon.

Only to slam straight into a missile, which detonated upon impact. Natsu was thrown backwards the explosion and made a less than grateful landing against a stone pillar, which cracked at the sudden force applied. Natsu let out a grunt of pain as he stood himself up, only to find the Dorma Anim already charging him. Snarling at the challenge, Natsu placed his left palm on top of his right fist and aimed towards the insane king of Edolas. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Cataclysmic Jaw!** " Natsu yelled as a blue dragon head leapt from his hands and met the Dorma Anim's charge head on, the smaller dragon slamming into the stomach of the larger one before latching onto a shoulder protector and tearing the piece of metal off, before Natsu finally dissipated his ethereal dragon, an enraged expression still on his face at the now sputtering king.

" **Wh-what?! Simply Impossible! The Dorma Anim cannot be damaged!** " Faust howled as he narrowed his eyes at Natsu from inside the metal dragon. " **You will be destroyed you insignificant little pra-** " Faust began before Gajeel cut him off with a holler of laughter.

"Don't forget about us old man! **Iron Dragon's Lance!** " Gajeel yelled out as two metal poles slammed into the damaged shoulder of the Dorma Anim, causing electricity to ripple throughout the damaged robot, and Gajeel to quickly draw back his arms for fear of electrocution. He'd already been a lightning rod to save this guild once, it was an experience he prefered to not repeat.

Landing with a satisfied smirk, Gajeel calmly walked over to Natsu, while Wendy ran over to make sure he was okay. Brushing Wendy off, Natsu only gave Gajeel a small grin which Gajeel immediately understood, a wicked grin making it's way onto the Iron Dragon Slayer's face as he took a deep breath, followed by Gajeel and Wendy quickly catching on followed in suit.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's…** "

" **Iron Dragon's…** "  
" **Sky Dragon's…** "

" **Roar!** " All three Dragon Slayer yelled in unison as a torrent of blue, a tornado of metal and a hurricane of air all launched towards the Dorma Anim, eventually all combining into a giant blue beam that had bits of metal and wind flickering around the edges, which let out a massive explosion as it made contact with the Dragon Knight, filling the arena with smoke, making Natsu snort at the destruction caused. It was what Fairy Tail mages seemed to specialize in after all.

"He better learn to stay down after that." Natsu grumbled as Gajeel cackled at the effect of the Roar attacks and Wendy only let out a small smile.

"C'mon Dragneel, ya really think anything can stand up after that?" Gajeel laughed as Natsu only shook his head with a small smile on his face. Maybe the king would actually stay down, it would be nice if that happened.

However luck was not on their side that day. As the smoke cleared, Gajeel and Wendy both sputtered as they saw the Dorma Anim rising to it's feet, while Natsu only raised an eyebrow, masking his surprise completely. Impressive.

" **You insignificant little peasants! Did you really think that you can defeat me?! I am the king of Edolas! I control the Dorma Anim! I am invincible! And now I will end all three of you!** " Faust hollered as the Dorma Anim began to transform. The Dragon Knight appeared to absorb all magic in the air around it, staining the armor black as Natsu felt it's power spike, blowing Zero's level of magic out of the water, and making Natsu's eyes narrow dangerously. They wanted to play with power ups then? " **Now! Face your death with no hope at all! You now face the Dorma Anim: Black Sky! The one true Black Dragon, which will be your utter defeat and end!** " Faust yelled.

Wrong thing to say.

Natsu had just had it about up to here with Edolas. First he has to be some god damned taxi cab in order to transport people between islands, then he took on a god damned army, who didn't even pose much of a challenge, he met his doppelganger who had a mouth to smart for his own good, he had his sword destroyed and now this miserable excuse of a king thought he could call himself the Black Dragon? Natsu let loose a feral snarl at the exclamation of the king and decided to try a very, very, very stupid idea.

"Gajeel, Wendy, get out of here, I have a dark robot to fall." Natsu growled, purposely avoiding the words 'Black Dragon', which both Wendy and Gajeel caught on to. Gajeel only let out a nod as he grabbed Wendy and sprinted to the edge of the coliseum and threw Wendy up a story before climbing up and exiting the coliseum. Both Dragon Slayers knew that this fight was Natsu's now. You never insult the pride of a Dragon Slayer's parent. That was just common knowledge. Wendy and Gajeel could both tell that Faust was going to be torn a new one.

Natsu continued to growl as he ignited one hand in blue energy as he slowly walked towards the Black Sky, causing the King to laugh at Natsu's defiance.

" **What will you do boy? Both of your allies have left you, and now you stand alone against the Black Dragon!** " Faust jeered as Natsu gained an oddly calm look on his face as his blue covered fist seemed to glow even brighter as the Dragon Slayer's rage spiked.

"No, no you are not the Black Dragon. You are a half-ass knock off of a Dragon, and now you shall fall like one." Natsu growled as he let his other hand erupt into bright red flames, causing Faust's eyes to widen. The brat could use Fire Magic as well?

 _I hope you both can forgive me for this, especially you Igneel, but I am going to tear him apart. Just like you taught me Acnologia._ Natsu thought as he debatably did the stupidest thing in his entire life.

Natsu raised his right flame covered hand and grasped his left blue covered hand.

The effects were instantaneous. A shockwave of power rippled throughout the entire area, even making Faust take a step back at the dangerous level of power being emitted from the son of Acnologia. A feral grin made it's way onto Natsu's face as he eyes suddenly flashed with purple flames and he brought his hands apart, each hand now intertwined with flames the color of dark purple. The same color a roman emperor would don, the color of a king. Natsu could feel his Dragonification accelerating a rapid rate, but his lust for a fight made him indifferent. He just wanted to tear the metal dragon apart.

A maniacal grin on his face, Natsu raised his hand and gestured for the Black Sky to come at him, before vanishing instantly from Faust's sight, leaving the king confused. Confusion when he saw Natsu reappear right in front of the Dorma Anim's eyes and cock back his fist.

" **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Devastating Fist!** " Natsu roared as he brought the devastating haymaker forward, and made contact with the left eye of the Dorma Anim, shattering the eye instantly and sending the Dorma Anim backpedaling, as Natsu landed and lunged at the eyes again, only for a hand to attempt to stop him. " **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Claw** " Natsu yelled as he swung his foot and cleaved three fingers off the Dorma Anim, before landing on the hand and continuing his assault on the eyes. Swinging his arm forward again, Natsu obliterated the other eye and effectively blinded the Dorma Anim as Natsu landed, the vicious grin still on his face.

" **You arrogant little prat! What have you done?!"** Faust yelled as Natsu cracked his neck and took a deep breath instead of responding. Completely blind to the attack, Faust was completely vulnerable as Natsu unleashed the earthshaking attack to come.

" **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu yelled as a tornado of purple flames rocketed toward the Dorma Anim, incinerating the chest plate, and leaving the King completely exposed the now molten magic resistant metal dripped to the ground below him. "You are nothing but a fool." Natsu growled as he teleported to right in front of the now exposed king and ripped him out of the dragon, before leaping to the ground and delivering a vicious headbutt to the King of Edolas, knocking him out instantly.

Natsu growled as he turned around and looked the smoldering remains of the Dorma Anim before raised his hand and let new words flow off of his lips, as if it was a second nature. " **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Unending Fury** " Natsu called out as the ground beneath the Dorma Anim erupted into flames. The black mech of a dragon quickly began to give in to the heat and a sharp hissing noise filled as the most feared weapon in all of Edolas melted in Natsu's anger and fury.

Feeling the rush of power suddenly leave him, Natsu quickly won the battle so stay upright, and cursed as he felt the scales creep further up his neck and further down his calves. He was going to turn soon, and still only one person besides him was even aware of the fact. Erza Scarlet.

 _Well there's Chapter 10. Sorry it took so long, but I've got Finals starting tomorrow and I spent a lot of time studying, but during breaks I ground out this chapter for some fun. So Natsu's got the Apocalypse Flame mode now and is in need of a new sword? Tenrou's gonna be fun with that. Lemme know what you thought and ask any questions you have, and until next time, I'll see you guys later. Also holy shit 9k words_

 _~Solo_


	11. A Dragon Awakens

Natsu let out a sigh of relief as his feet touched the ground beneath him. Returning to Earthland was a less than pleasant journey. After finding out Mystogan's mad plan, taking the blame and throwing a fist fight, Natsu was just about ready to fall asleep for a week, maybe two if he was lucky.

He and the other Fairy Tail mages had touched down in a forest outside of some town, which Natsu was relieved at. He didn't exactly want to show up in the middle of the legal guild run by Makarov Dreyar. That would be a nightmare. Frowning as he felt the rain begin to pelt down on him, Natsu turned to the other mages he had travelled back with and spoke. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways again. We're even now." Natsu said as he began to walk away from the legal mages, who all had shocked expressions on their faces at his blunt attitude, before he was stopped by a small hand which Natsu immediately knew was Wendy.

Sighing, Natsu turned around to meet her big brown eyes, filled with hope at her request. "Please just come and meet the guild, you can leave after that, but I think you'd like all of them." Wendy begged Natsu, who sighed at the request and waited for either the Titania or the Popsicle to yell at Wendy for the idea.

"Actually, I would enjoy that."

"Yeah why not." Natsu was completely caught off guard by the flippant responses by both Erza and Gray, who seemed to be fine with Natsu meeting the guild. Gajeel let out a laugh at Natsu's not so hidden surprise before gathering himself.

"What's the matter Dragneel, afraid to meet some Fairies?" Gajeel jeered, making Natsu sigh at the Iron Dragon Slayer. Did he really think that working on his pride was going to work? Because it sort of was, and it was annoying.

"Fine." Natsu said shortly before the annoying blonde mage could padd in her two cents. "I'll meet your guild." Natsu said with a sigh as he felt a blue furball make contact with his face, sending the Dragon Slayer reeling.

"Yeah! Natsu's coming along because he know's Fairy Tail's the best!" Happy cried as Natsu heard Carla sigh impatiently at the blue exceed. He honestly did have a little too much energy for his own good at times. Natsu could feel it grinding on his nerves just a tad.

"Let's just get this over with." Natsu said as he took two steps forward before tripping over something fuzzy and annoyed. Groaning as he felt his face become acquainted with the ground, Natsu stood up to see an annoyed looking Pantherlily, who appeared to be growling at the ground.

"So there's another cat." Natsu stated at Pantherlily gave him a look. The small cat looked less than happy to be in Earthland right now. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the frowning cat. "Jesus, who took a dump in your cereal." Natsu questioned, gaining an annoyed look from Pantherlily.

"I am simply used to looking at something other than the heels of those I am in company with." Pantherlily said evenly as Natsu chuckled at the Exceed's wit. He could bare with this cat, unlike that ungodly ivory cat that nagged at him constantly during the whole little Nirvana spat.

"Didn't know that cats could see anything else." Natsu said as he gestured for one of the mages to lead the way, as Gray did with a tired sigh as Gajeel started yelling about finding his own cat, to which Pantherlily seemed to protest briefly before giving in to the Iron Dragon Slayer.

The walk back to Magnolia seemed to be calm for all of the Fairy Tail mages, but it was nerve wracking for Natsu. His instincts were telling him to sprint for the hills and leave the Fairies behind. He, a wanted outlaw, was about to walk into the heart of one of the strongest guilds in all of Fiore, arguably _the_ strongest guild.

The rain cleared from the sky to reveal a sunny day upon Magnolia, and Natsu quickly understood why many people were envious of the famous guild, the city they inhabited was simply beautiful. Buildings stretched on for miles, but managed to avoid the cluttered look of most cities. There were small parks dotted around the city and beautiful landscape in each of them. Towering above it all with a very protective feeling, stood a castle like guildhall proudly displaying the Fairy Tail logo.

"This is by far the stupidest decision of my life." Natsu grumbled as they began into town, making Erza roll her eyes at the Dragon Slayer.

"Quit complaining, we met your guild, now you may meet ours." Erza proclaimed as she marched towards Fairy Tail, making the already tired Dragon Slayer sigh once again. Wasn't exactly his choice that they met his guild. It was a chain of events he would prefer to forget, to be honest.

"That is not even close to an argument." Natsu said in an exasperated tone as Erza turned around him and gave him a murderous glare, and was seemingly surprised when Natsu rolled his eyes at her. Gray typically shook in his boots at that glare. The Dragon Slayer continued to surprise her.

"Just shut up and follow us to the guild." Gray snapped at Natsu, who shot the now topless Ice Make Wizard half a glare before retorting.

"I follow orders from some people who can notice when their clothes go missing." Natsu shot back, causing Gray to look down and notice that he in fact was missing his shirt. Scrambling off to find it, Natsu snorted at the shirtless Ice Mage before trudging forward. He wasn't getting out of this, might as well get it over with.

"It won't be that bad Natsu, you can meet all my friends!" Wendy called out happily as Natsu sighed at the remark. Meeting Wendy's friends who would throw him in prison without a second thought was not what he was looking forward to at all. It wasn't going to end well, to say the least.

However, while he was reluctant to meet the legal wizards, it wasn't his biggest concern. Sure he wanted to leave as soon as possible as to not be tossed in jail, but Dragonification was nearing it's completion, and Natsu had no idea how a town full of people would react to a dragon showing up in the middle of town. Probably not all to friendly of a reaction.

Shaking himself from his thought, Natsu's frown only deepened when he saw the castle like Guildhall right in front of him. Time for fate to play it's role.

Gray noticed Natsu's deepened frown and laughed at the Dragon Slayer. "Quite acting like we're about to torture you, you're just meeting our guild, most of whom already think you're a decent guy." Gray said as he walked up to the doors of the guild and kicked them open, making Natsu sigh as the ice wizard's form of announcing his arrival.

"Is that common?" Natsu asked Erza, who rolled her eyes at the ice mage's antics.

"You have no idea." Was all Erza said as she walked up to the guildhall, with Wendy and a reluctant Natsu in tail.

The inside of the guildhall was substantially less impressive than the inside. Inside it was rather plain, there were tables and chairs dotted all around the hall. Some were upturned, which Natsu noted probably wasn't unusual, if Gray kicking open the door was anything to go on.

"We're back!" Gray yelled out as the attention of the entire guildhall turned to Natsu and the Fairies, making Natsu almost sigh at the sudden increase in attention. Just what he needed. The responses given to their arrival varied, and listening to them amused Natsu more than it should have.

"Welcome back!"

"...oh god it's Erza"

"You guys left?"

"Who's the guy with pink hair?"

"Gray stop breaking the door!"

"Seriously, who's the pink haired guy?"

Natsu snorted as he listened to the reactions. He turned to Erza. "Apparently they're terrified of you and want to know who I am." Natsu commented dryly to Erza, who shot him a look before speaking up.

"Listen up!" Erza called out, and the guild got quiet. Very quiet. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the power that Erza held in her own guildhall. They were all terrified of her. Why? He wasn't.

"Well that was effective." Natsu commented dryly, breaking the silence that had fallen after Erza's announcement. Picking at the bandages that lined his arms, Natsu gave Erza look that told her to continue, which Erza sighed before doing so, shocking most of the guild. Erza typically only took orders from people she regarded as a superior.

"Yes, we have returned, and with a guest." Erza called out to the guildhall, making Natsu grunt at the word guest, more like hostage. Guest made it sound like he wanted to be here. Hostage was a more appropriate term. Erza gestured to Natsu to introduce himself, which he did with a small glare at Erza and a montone that would put the most bored of people to shame.

"Name's Natsu, that's all you need to know." Natsu commented dryly as he turned to Erza. "Can I go now?"

The redhead glared at him, "No you may not, what is your problem with our guild." Erza asked with a dangerous edge to her voice, making Natsu snort at her. He had just about had enough of Erza's stuck up bossy attitude, someone needed to put her in her place. Natsu was willing to be that person. She had just dragged him to her guild, he said hello and now he wanted to leave, what more did she want?

Before Natsu could retort, a small old man made his way over to Natsu and stuck out his hand to shake. "Hello my boy, my name is Makarov Dreyar, master of this guild, nice to meet you." Makarov said with a smile. Natsu let the frown slip of his face into a very tiny smile as he shook Makarov's hand. The old man reminded him of Igneel already, and Natsu didn't know why, he just had that sort of vibe around him.

"Natsu Dragneel, good to meet you." Natsu responded as he shook Makarov's hand. The aging guildmaster gave Natsu a once over before taking a step back, clearly with a thought on his mind.

"You, my boy, are full of power, I can feel it by standing next to you, are you in a guild?" Makarov asked, making Natsu snort lightly, the small smile still present before he responded. He knew he liked the old man already, straight to business.

"I was, I left when it started to fall apart and a few members wanted my head." Natsu told Makarov, which technically wasn't a lie. When the allied forces showed up, the Oración Seis fell apart quickly, also Cobra and Brain both did want his head on a silver platter, so he technically told no lies to the guildmaster of Fairy Tail.

"I see, well if you decide you want a new guild, Fairy Tail would welcome you with open arms, you seem like a nice man." Makarov said, making Natsu have to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. He was still a wanted criminal and the guildmaster of the strongest light guild had just offered him a spot in his. Yeah, it'd go over well if he joined.

"I'll pass Master Dreyar, I enjoy living by myself, travelling the world just fine." Natsu said with the small smile present. "Speaking of which, I should probably get going, I have a thing." Natsu finished as he turned back towards the door. So far Fairy Tail was a nice place, but he wouldn't let himself get attached. He was the son of the Dragon King, he didn't need a guild to help him out, especially a light guild when he would simply get all of them in deep shit for helping him.

Erza immediately cut him off, as to be expected. "What is your problem with our guild, we have been friendly and you simply want to leave. If you have an issue, state it now, or stay for more than three minutes." Erza stated boldly, finally grinding on the last of Natsu's nerves. He had been nice like requested and now he still had to stay when he could be searching for Acnologia? Natsu knew the damn dragon was out there somewhere, he just didn't know where.

"Don't get all authoritative with me, we both know I can floor you Scarlet. My problem is that you dragged me here without my say in the matter. I said I would visit to see Wendy, and I just had a hell of a trip with her, so I did all the visiting that I want to right now." Natsu stated as the guild's eyes widened. This guy could take Erza in a fight? Was he really that strong or just arrogant? A dark glint made it's way into Erza's brown eyes.

"You can take _me_ in a fight?" Erza asked quietly as Natsu rolled his eyes at the armored redhead. Was she really this prideful? Yes, he could, and he'd done it before. Natsu'd do it again in a heartbeat. He was always down for a good fight.

"I've dropped you before Titania, even after you'd stabbed me. Want a round 3? I'd be more than happy to oblige." Natsu stated as he took a step towards Erza, who looked Natsu dead in the eyes, determined to meet his challenge, but was terrified at what she saw. It was as if she was looking into the eyes of a wild animal. They were wild and primal and terrified Erza to her core, and for some reason she wasn't as scared as she should be.

"Is that a challenge?" Erza asked softly, making Natsu snort.

"I'll take on anyone in this damned guildhall who wants to go a round." Natsu growled at Erza who raised an eyebrow, before Gray interrupted.

"If you're taking anyone on then I wanna have at you, I want to see which of us is stronger." Gray called out as Natsu gave him a once over with a bored look in his eyes.

"Sure, I could use a warm up." Natsu said, ignoring the enraged outcry of the ice wizard as the son of the apocalypse's eyes flickered to the Iron Dragon Slayer, who looked very happy with his new cat. "Wanna go a round Redfox?"

Gajeel snorted at the challenge. "I don't feel like getting my ass handed to me today, I'll pass." Gajeel said, causing small ripples of shock to echo throughout the guildhall. Gajeel almost never turned down a challenge, be it Gray _and_ Erza, Laxus or anyone else. Maybe this Natsu guy _was_ a force to be reckoned with.

A guy with slicked back red hair shrugged in the back. "Hey if he takes down both Erza and Gray then I'll go a round." He said calmly as he stood up and cracked his neck. At the remark, the guildhall exploded into an eruption of noise. Making Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel all flinch, Natsu sighed deeply as he gestured for Erza to lead the way to where they'd be fighting.

Erza's narrowed eyes had yet to widen at Natsu. She only gestured for him to follow her through the guildhall. Natsu refrained himself from socking Erza then and there as he followed the scarlet haired beauty, eager to fight and knock her ego down a peg or two. Maybe three.

After weaving through stunned members of the Fairy Tail guild, Natsu found himself in an open plain lakeside behind the guild. It was a relatively open field, about fifty meters wide in each direction, with tree lining the field. However, one small opening lead to a lake that glimmered in the new sun that appeared after the rain had passed. Natsu snorted. Of course they had a field for battling out back. Why wouldn't they?

A good majority of the guild had followed Natsu and Erza outside, the former of which stood in a lazy stance as he turned to Gray, who was doing a few stretches to warm himself up. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the stretching ice make wizard, and shook his head. "We gonna fight today iceberg? Or maybe in another thirty years?" Natsu jabbed as he rolled his neck once and Gray narrowed his eyes at him. Stripper didn't take well to insults. Good to know.

Natsu briefly heard a betting pool set up, and wasn't all too surprised when it was stacked heavily in Gray's favor. The Ice mage wasn't usually a pushover, he just was to Natsu, who had taken down the Black Sky in about three hits. "I haven't got all day princess, if you're gonna attack me, better do it soon." Natsu called out again as he began to inspect his nails, causing Gray to narrow his eyes before bringing his hands together.

" **Ice Make: Lance!** " Gray called out as several lances leapt from his hands and fired at Natsu, who gave the attack a bored glance as he steadily took three steps to the left and dodged the icicles completely. Boredly watching as the iced spikes thudded into a tree, Natsu turned to Gray with a glance that basically said _that's it?_

Natsu did have a few thoughts on the attack though, ranging from _that would've hurt like a bitch_ , to _wonder how much it takes to melt them_ and finally _great, because one dark haired ice make mage simply wasn't enough, at least this one can't control time._

Natsu sighed as he saw Gray prepare his next attack and prepared to dodge. " **Ice Make: Cannon!** " Gray called out as a bazooka like object manifested on his shoulder, making Natsu raise an eyebrow, so he could make new toys. Well Natsu could too.

A steady stream of snow was launched from the cannon, leaping towards Natsu who only raised an eyebrow before dissolving into a fine blue mist, which the avalanche plowed through. Gray didn't even have time to register that Natsu was gone before he felt two hand strike his temples and his world became surprisingly dark.

Natsu snorted as the now unconscious ice mage fell to the ground. He didn't even hit him that hard, it was supposed to frustrate him, not knock the kid clean out. Natsu pushed the collapsed Gray off his boots before turning to the shocked crowd. "Who's next?" Natsu calmly asked as Erza walked into the arena.

"That would be me, prepare yourself." Erza stated as Natsu snorted at her. Everyone in this guild was so damn sure of themselves. Natsu rolled his eyes before gesturing for Erza to come at him. The redhead shot off like a bullet, leaving a trail of dust and air behind her, making Natsu only raise an eyebrow as he sidestepped Erza, who skidded to a stop when she realized that she missed her target.

Natsu scoffed at Erza. "You aren't going to bullet train me into the ground Titania, you might wanna get serious if you want to have a chance at winning this." Natsu calmly stated as Erza growled at him. A white glow overtook Erza, momentarily blinding Natsu as he let out a sigh of satisfaction. So she was going to take him seriously.

" **Requip: Heaven's Wheel!** " Erza called out as she requipped an armor that took the form of a metallic angel, with a rather empty midsection which Natsu questioned, she did know that was a major weak spot right? Her armors gave her powers but left her vulnerable in the strangest of fashions. He could just kick her in the stomach and knock the wind out of her.

Rocketing into the sky, Erza held out her arms as she called out an attack. " **Circle Sword!** " Erza yelled as a dozen swords requipped into reality and spun at a rapidly increasing speed around the aloft Erza, which Natsu only stared at.

"Huh." Was all Natsu said before Erza launched all of her blades at him. Natsu smirked as he took one step to the left to avoid the first sword, slid under the second and third, kicked the fourth out of the air, twirled away from the fifth, sixth and seventh, before grabbing the eighth out of the air and using it to knock down the last three.

The guild was in awe of the footwork that Natsu had demonstrated. Nobody should have that kind of reflexes, but here was this pink haired mage, who hadn't even used magic yet, showing up two of the guild's strongest wizards.

"C'mon Titania, you're better than this!" Natsu called out as he heaved the sword he caught at Erza, making her swerve out of the way in order to prevent herself from being impaled in the face, or stomach, or somewhere.

Grunting as she stopped herself from flying out of control, Erza twirled the two blades she held in her hand before rushing Natsu, who light his fists in glee as he rushed towards the speeding Titania. Sliding under her first attack, Natsu quickly stood up and punched Erza in the back of the neck, sending her tumbling forward. Capitalizing on the opening, Natsu's foot erupted into energy and made contact with the back of Erza's ribcage, sending her face first into the ground.

Taking a step back to let Erza collect herself, Natsu chuckled when he saw Erza's eyes gain a determined edge as she began to glow once again. " **Requip: Purgatory Armor!** " Erza called out; Natsu closed his eyes briefly in order to not be disoriented by the light, and when he opened his eyes, Erza was clad in an entirely new set of armor.

The Purgatory Armor was black as midnight with dark gray accents. The entire armor set was covered in black spikes which looked very pointy to Natsu. Along with the new armor, Erza now wielded a giant spiked mace that looked quite painful. Erza pointed said weapon at Natsu before letting out a declaration. "This is my **Purgatory Armor** , few have seen it and lived to tell the tale, be honored." Erza spoke with a deadly edge, making Natsu raise an eyebrow. She seemed awfully confident in that new set of armor. Maybe he should fix that.

"Eh, we'll see." Was all Natsu said before he leapt at Erza, catching her slightly off guard and making her raise her mace in order to block the first of Natsu's fists, but the other one snaked under the mace and made a home in Erza's stomach, sending the redhead tumbling as Natsu brushed his shoulder off and gave Erza a grin. "Been awhile since I've fought a **Requip** mage who doesn't go down in one punch and not get back up, good job Erza." Natsu said with genuine honesty, that ended up coming out like mockery. Erza's eyes narrowed as she leapt at Natsu, which he quickly sidestepped before catching an unexpected mace to the stomach. Natsu let out a grunt as he was tossed backwards, before landing on his feet and shaking his head to clear any daze he was in before he gave Erza a look. "Now that was just rude." Natsu said as his hands burst alive with blue energy once again.

Natsu threw himself at Erza, throwing punches faster than anyone's eyes could keep track of, each one making a sizable dent in Erza's armor and forcing her further and further backwards. Natsu then spun and delivered a brutal kick to Erza's chest, cracking the chestplate and sending Erza flying onto her back, where she attempted to catch her breath. Natsu rolled his eyes at he walked over to her, she needed to be taken down a peg and he complied, was she expecting some kind of victory?

Natsu snorted when he reached Erza. "You lost Scarlet, where's all that arrogance from before, you got one good hit off on me." Natsu asked. He tried being nice, he even complimented her, but in response she got a cheap shot off. Yeah, he was doing being nice to the redheaded knight.

"I am not done ye-agh!" Erza started as she began to stand up, only to have Natsu place his foot on her back and push her into the ground. She had a fire inside her, that was for sure.

"No, you've lost. You pulled out one of your most powerful armors and I beat you down. That call's for a win right Makarov?" Natsu called out to Makarov, who simply stroked his moustache before responding.

"Yes, you have lost this fight Erza, Mr. Dragneel is simply more powerful and skilled than you, don't worry, you are still plenty strong." Makarov said as he looked to the mage with slicked back hair from earlier. "I believe you said that you wanted a turn if he defeated both of them?"

The greasy haired mage shrugged his shoulders. "Sure I could use a fight, haven't had a good one in quite some time." He said as he made his way towards Natsu, ignoring the immense amounts of cheering. Natsu briefly heard bets being heavily stacked against him. Maybe he would get a good fight today, it was what he enjoyed the most after all.

"Name's Gildarts kid, and sorry, but I'm gonna have to end this winning streak of yours." The now named Gildarts said with a smirk, causing Natsu to sigh. Why did everyone assume he'd go down quietly?

Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if you say so, but you're gonna have to knock me down to the point of where I can't stand up." Natsu said with indifference as he crossed his arms and gave Gildarts a look. "First hit's all yours."

Gildarts shrugged at the guy in front of him and walked over, preparing to knock him out with one slug. He missed Natsu's small smirk though. Cocking his arm back, Gildarts brought forth a heavy strike towards Natsu, whose grin only widened as he disappeared into thin air, and causing Gildarts to stumble forward a tad before he whirled around and blocked Natsu's strike that was incoming from behind.

Natsu grinned at Gildarts. Neither Erza or Gray would have been able to block that attack, maybe he did have a real fight on his hands here. Spinning a kick at Gildarts, Natsu was pleasantly surprised to see Gildarts block the kick and throw a fist at Natsu, who dropped to the ground and socked Gildarts in the knee, making the older wizard curse as Natsu slid backwards with a smile. With no hesitation, Natus leapt forward and delivered a haymaker to Gildarts' face, snapping his head to the side, but only to receive an uppercut in return which sent him stumbling backwards.

Spitting on the ground, Natsu was greeted with the sight of Gildarts dabbing his eyebrow where Natsu had nailed, and brought his hand down to see small amounts of blood on his fingers. He looked up with a shocked expression on his face to Natsu, who was rubbing a bloody lip, but was still grinning like an idiot. "Not bad old man, we done warming up?" Natsu said with a grin as his fists erupted into blue and leapt at Gildarts, who raised a glowing white fist to stop Natsu's attack, only for Natsu to vanish into thin air.

Twirling around to block Natsu's strike, using his same strategy as before, Gildarts grunt when he felt a magic covered fist make contact with the back of his neck, making take a step forward to right himself before turning around and catching Natsu's arm, and flinging the rose haired dragon slayer over his shoulder and across the clearing where he went flying into the tree, and sweatdropped at the damage he caused. "Maybe I over did it?" Gildarts asked, only to receive a surprise flash of blue in front of him and a sucker punch to the stomach before he could react. Taking another step back from the impact, Natsu capitalized on the winded Gildarts, swinging his arm forward in the hope to strike his temple, only for Gildarts to recover much quicker than he had anticipated and block the strike, punching Natsu in the solar plexus in response, forcing Natsu to take a few steps back.

Grunting as he felt a bruise beginning to form, Natsu took another step back and pointed at the older male before calling out his first verbal attack of the battle. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture!** " Natsu shouted as a magic appeared under Gildarts' feet, only for the mage to raise an eyebrow and raise his own hand, causing it to shatter into pieces, briefly shocking Natsu. _So if I wanna use magic, it's gotta work faster than he can react_. Natsu briefly thought to himself as Gildarts rolled his shoulders.

"Not bad kid, but it's gonna take more than that to take me down, a lot more." Gildarts said with a smile, which Natsu returned before dropping his arms to his side and taking a deep breath.

 _Oh I am going to feel using this in the morning_. Was all Natsu thought as blue energy erupted all around him, causing even a few of the spectators to take a step back from the power he released suddenly. " **Apocalypse Drive** " Natsu spoke, more to himself than to Gildarts. The **Apocalypse Drive** was still a new technique of his, and it increased his magic power fivefold, but each attack drained him just about as much as well, and he simply had no idea what it did to speed up or slow down his Dragonification. However, Natsu didn't care at the moment, **Apocalypse Flame** mode would reveal Igneel's parentage and Gildarts was less of a threat than the Black Sky, so the **Apocalypse Drive** would have to help him out here for the time being.

"Shall we continue?" Natsu asked Gildarts, who let a good portion of his own magic flare out, a calm smirk making it's way onto his face.

"Yeah, why not." Gildarts said as both he and Natsu charged each other, with fists promising victory for both of them. Makarov's eyes had gone wide at their sudden release of power and frowned at the battle.

"It has been a long time since I've seen someone make Gildarts release some power." Makarov muttered to himself, only for Gray to overhear it.

"Yeah, I don't think even Laxus has made Gildarts bleed before. Natsu would've been really helpful during the Fantasia Festival." Gray responded, making Makarov sigh at the memory of his grandson losing it and trying to instigate a coup of Fairy Tail, eventually being stopped by Erza, Gray and Gajeel. It was not a fond memory, to say the least.

"Yes, there would have been a lot less pain on that day if Natsu was there. However that is in the past, let us focus on the present." Makarov told Gray as both of them returned their focus to the fight.

Natsu was still grinning after Gildarts nailed him right in the mouth, quickly retaliating, the blue dragon slayer vanished in a flash of blue, and before anyone knew what happened, Gildarts was sent stumbling backwards, cursing and holding his stomach that now had brand new bruise on it. Gildarts sighed as the grin made it's way back onto his face, he simply looked up at Natsu with a look that Natsu understood instantly.

The Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse grinned at Gildarts as the aura of power that was surrounding him suddenly vanished and everyone felt like they could breath again. Gildarts walked over to Natsu and stuck out his hand, which Natsu shook before turning to the shocked masses.

"H-he tied Gildarts…"

"Wait why'd they stop fighting?"

"I still don't know the pink guy's name."

Natsu chuckled as he wiped a small amount of blood from his mouth. "You have a hell of a haymaker old man." Natsu said with a chuckle as he cracked his neck, and sighed at the relief it brought. Gildarts laughed openly at the compliment given to him by Natsu.

"And you are a fast son of a bitch, you know that?" Gildarts said with a grin as he clapped Natsu on the back, making the Dragon Slayer chuckle at the Crash Mage's cluelessness. He was teleporting, so he would assume that he'd be fast, it'd be an insult if he wasn't.

"I've been told that once or twice." Natsu replied as he began walking towards the forest on the edge of the clearing. "Well, I better split, don't want to cause any more trouble." Natsu said calmly as he walked into the forest, ignoring the protests of the guild, because a massive migraine had just popped up and Natsu knew exactly what was happening.

Dragonification was nearing it's completion. It was obvious really, the tribal tattoos climbing up his arms with each passing minute and the scales that could barely be hidden by his scarf and bandages on the arms, he needed to get into the forest so no one would see him turn. That might've been the last he'd ever see of the Fairy Tail guild.

* * *

The second that he was sure he was out of sight, the smile he'd kept on for a majority of his spar with Gildarts vanished as a grimace took it's place. Natsu stumbled and crashed into a nearby tree that he leaned heavily onto to prevent falling over. Taking deep breaths, Natsu tried to take a step forward. _It's okay, it's not that bad, you can walk this off, you'll be fi- son of a bitch that stings_! Natsu thought as his attempt to take a step forward failed miserably, sending him collapsing into the lush green grass beneath his feet.

The midday sun filtered through the treetops and shined down on Natsu, who simply wanted to curl into a ball and die. Taking a shaky breath, Natsu tried to stand up, only for his arms to give out the second that he put any strain on them, with his face meeting the ground once again, Natsu let out the first cry of pain he'd allow himself in his turning process.

It felt like his organs were on fire, to put it shortly. Every organ being taken apart and put back together in the most painful way possible. Gasping heavily, Natsu's tired eyes looked up to see that he was truly alone in the forest behind Fairy Tail. He was alone.

Biting down on his tongue to prevent another scream, Natsu forced both arms underneath him and ignored his muscles screaming in pain and protest as he forced himself upright, feeling the coppery tang of blood in his mouth as he drew blood from his tongue. Spitting the blood on the ground, Natsu ignored the fact that it was now a very dark red, closing in on black color, as opposed to the normal crimson.

The second that he righted himself, Natsu felt his legs give way as he slammed back into the tree he had just leaned on, chipping away at the bark and making a small cut on the side of his face. Groaning, Natsu tried once more to stand himself, only to feel his legs officially go on strike and give out from underneath him, forcing Natsu to the ground once more.

The second cry of agony finally worked it's way from Natsu's throat as he felt his bones begin to shift and change. However this outcry sounded more like a roar than a yell. Futilely trying to drag himself forward towards no true goal, Natsu's arms finally gave out as the Dragon Slayer slumped to the ground defeated and finally let the Dragon Magic have it's way with his system, giving in completely for the first time in his life.

A dark cloud of blue and purple gathered around Natsu, twisting like a tornado as it surrounded the downed son of the Apocalypse, before Natsu was no longer visible to the world around him. The cloud covered him like a blanket as yells of pain turned into roars, and not after long, a large black claw leapt from the cloud and impacted the ground, leaving the earth to shatter in it's wake.

The cloud dying down, the mist cleared to reveal not Natsu, but a large black dragon, easily the size of Fairy Tail's guild hall. The dragon was black as night, with royal purple streaks running across it's sides in a tribal fashion decorating the dragon to look like a royal beast. It's head was pointed like a spearhead, with glowing blue eyes that pulsed with power. Jutting from the back of the head were nine spines, each twisting slightly or splitting into two separate grooves. A row of spines followed these down all the way to the tip of the dragon's tail, which was sharpened to a menacing point. Razor sharp teeth aligned the dragon's mouth, ready to tear into anything it needed to face.

Wings with a wingspan that could block out the sun over a small island were adorned on the dragon's back, dark leathery wings that held the same imperial markings as the body, with three barbed claws lining each groove of the wing, making a wing slash a deadly attack. The two front arms, that still seemed strangely human, adorned large spikes from each elbow, and each hand was equipped with five razor sharp claws that could claw through the toughest of steel.

The back legs had the feet of which nightmares could spawn. The claws on each foot resembled that of a velociraptor, with a long sickle like claw on the far left or right of the respective foot, with small, blood red streaks lining the back legs in an effect that resembled bleeding, Natsu Dragneel had finally completed his dragonification.

Letting out a primal roar, Dragneel flapped his wings once and rocketed into the air with a feeling that felt natural. He simply had no idea why he had resisted becoming a dragon for so long, he felt new power, new strength, with such a ferocity that would have flattened Gildarts into the earth. All for the price of his humanity. A feral grin made it's way to Natsu's face as he felt the power of a dragon course through him, the knowledge his new power and of course, how to return to a human form if he so desired. What had he to fear about his new power? He was now a lion amongst sheep, and the world would weep at his coming, if he so desired.

The Son of the Apocalypse soared over the forest beneath him, flying to the mountains west of Magnolia, he was a dragon, and dragons lived to claim mountains as their own, a strange trait that Acnologia had taught him shortly after killing Igneel. Soaring off into the day, Natsu let loose a roar of victory, he was truly free.

* * *

Erza froze the second she heard the roar. She had completely forgotten of Natsu's condition over the course of the events in Edolas, and after activating his new **Apocalypse Drive** , it pushed his magic to the limits, even if he and Gildarts stopped their fight.

"What in the hell was that?" She heard Gray mutter as his vision drifted out to forest from which the roar came. Erza bit her tongue to prevent herself from explaining like she normally did. Her mind tried to come up with some explanation for what had just sounded. As much as the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer infuriated her, refusing to stay long at her guild, being far more powerful, his biting sense of sarcasm, she didn't want him to turn into something corrupted by his own power. She wasn't sure she wished that fate upon anyone.

"Forest Wyvern?" Lucy suggested weakly to Gray, unsure if a such thing even existed. A rustling in the trees was seen before a blur of black launched itself from the treetops and soared towards the mountains, the sunlight glistening off it's black and byzantium scales. Flying at breakneck speeds, Erza could only gape in wonder as she watched the dragon that she hoped against hope was not Natsu Dragneel rocketed towards the mountains west of Magnolia. One thing was for sure though, the world had a new dragon, one that she had no idea if it was good for bad.

* * *

 _Two Months Later_

Ultear Milkovich, leader of the seven kin of Purgatory smiled lightly as she approached the mountain top. Master Hades sent her on a mission in order to recruit whomever lived upon the peak for their upcoming task, saying that he sensed a powerful lost magic, and it needed to be on their side, something about being unstoppable with it.

It was for that very reason that Ultear was clad in a heavy coat, which covered one of her main forms of persuasion rather well, much to her displeasure. Her dark purple hair was being blown back by the soft wind of the mountain, revealing her attractive face in full. Her warm, furred boots crunched through the snow, leaving behind footprints that were gradually filled with snow as time passed. She held a hand out in front of her face as she squinted her eyes. It was midday, but the dark clouds and light snow would have you think it was dawn or dusk. Upon finally reaching the summit, Ultear was surprised at how flat it was, just like a plateau on top of the mountain.

However, Ultear had climbed this mountain before, in pursuit of a rare sky magic that turned out to be a false lead (an informant had met his end several days later, third false tip in a row) and the peak was jagged with rocks, and even had a tree and a couple bushes. The tree remained, the old hardy oak looking as healthy as ever, but all of the bushes, jagged rocks and obstructions appeared to have been moved all to one place in a form of makeshift structure.

Upon further instruction, Ultear noticed the ground wasn't as flat as she thought it was, she could see the small jagged outlines of where the large rugged rocks used to be. It was clear that they had been moved, and not naturally. Letting out a small sigh at the revelation, Ultear turned towards the small shelter, eager to inspect it, when a shadow flew over her and blocked out the sun.

The Time Mage froze at the shadow, she tried to convince herself it was just a wyvern and she could beat it into the ground with her crystal balls, but she couldn't shake the feeling it was something else. Why would a wyvern come to a place where there was such a rumored magic power that Hades had felt? They weren't as prideful as their lost relatives, and Wyverns were typically calm as well, unless provoked.

Hearing the large creature land behind her, with a gust of wind blowing over her shoulder, Ultear slowly turned around and was shocked by the sight that she beheld. Standing in front of her was a lost relative of the mentioned Wyvern, a massive black dragon stood in front of her. Taking a step back involuntarily, Ultear tried not to panic as the dragon gave her a quizzical look.

" **Why did you come here?** " The dragon asked, it's voice deep, but not angry. Ultear, not expecting the creature to be able to speak, was at a loss for words. Power hummed in the dragon's voice, power that made Ultear feel like an ant compared to the majestic creature in front of her.

Clearing her throat, Ultear calmed herself and began to speak. "I came here to investigate an influx of magic power, and to see if I could gain the aid of whomever withheld the power. However, I can now see that it was a dragon, and I have no business then." Ultear explained as she prepared to leave the mountain top, there was no use in getting herself killed, then she would be unable to reach the Grand Magic World that she had worked so hard for.

" **And just because I'm a dragon, I can't help you?** " The midnight dragon questioned, making Ultear stop dead in her tracks. The dragon was willing to help her? This might just turn out better than she or Master Hades could have ever planned. That is, if she could persuade the creature to help her, she had no idea how to sway a dragon.

"Well.. no, I just figured you wouldn't be interested in our final mission to find Zeref." Ultear told the dragon, missing the way it tensed up at the name Zeref. The reply she was given was short and curt.

" **Zeref has been dead for many years, I know this for a fact**." The dragon stated, it's tone unclear to Ultear, as if it had a sense of… longing? To it? Why would a dragon miss Zeref, she had been mentally berating herself and was prepare to have to dispel dragonfire after telling the dragon her mission.

Ultear smiled lightly as she continued. "Oh no, Zeref is quite alive, in fact, my guild and I are leaving in a few days in order to secure him." Ultear calmly explained, trying to keep her joy at the possible help of the dragon hidden. She was, however, slightly confused when the dragon snorted at her statement.

" **No matter how strong you are, you'll all be slaughtered trying to secure Zeref**." The dragon stated as it lied down on it's arms and legs, the conversations gaining it's full attention and it prepared for a long talk. Ultear raised an eyebrow at the declaration. Zeref would be of little to no threat until he was awakened.

"The problem we have is not with Zeref, it's with whom may try to stop us." Ultear explained to the dragon who rolled his eyes are her statement. No, the problem they definitely had was his brother. Even if he didn't care he could probably massacre them all, he was just that powerful. "Though I wish to know, why do you care about Zeref, you are a dragon, and can only be killed by **Dragon Slayer Magic** , he's no threat to you." Ultear asked, making the dragon chuckle.

" **An old lie come to be a truth apparently, Dragons** _ **can**_ **be killed by other types of magic, it is just immensely difficult, and the dragon will simply outlast the mages who are attacking it. Irrelevant, I suppose, but you asked why I cared about Zeref, well, do you even know his last name?** " The dragon asked Ultear, who was stumped by the question. In all of their years of research they never had come across Zeref's last name. She assumed that he simply took upon the name Zeref when he became the black wizard, leaving his old life behind.

"No," Ultear admitted quietly. "I am unaware of Lord Zeref's last name." The time made stated, making the black dragon in front of her snort at the admittance. How typical of a follower to be unaware of Zeref's last name.

" **Dragneel, Zeref's last name is Dragneel**." The dragon spoke, with a sly grin on it's face. Ultear frowned at the last name, she was sure that she'd heard the last name Dragneel before somewhere. " **You asked why I care so much about Zeref Dragneel, let me show you** " The dragon said, and with that, it was surrounded in a cloud of black and royal purples, with the cloud gradually shrinking until it died down, and evaporating, leaving behind a pink haired man behind. He stuck his hand out to the baffled Ultear. "Natsu Dragneel, pleasure to meet you. However, I think we've met before Ultear." Natsu said with a small grin as Ultear's mouth threatened to drop open.

The last time she'd seen Natsu Dragneel, he had threatened to punch her out a window after she didn't allow him to come along on one of Grimoire Heart's searches for a lost magic, which was said to be a dragon hunt. The Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse certainly had changed, with dark blue tribal tattoos running up and down his arms, and stopping at the base of his neck.

"I was unaware you could turn into a dragon Natsu," Ultear finally said as she finished studying the (rather attractive) man in front of her. Natsu chuckled at both Ultear's statement and her not so subtle checking him out. She needed to learn how to hide that.

"Recent development in my power, so now I'm a dragon." Natsu said with a shrug, making Ultear raise an eyebrow. Is a dragon? Did he misspeak? He meant can turn into a dragon right? Natsu chuckled at the puzzled expression on Ultear's face. "Well, it's actually a bit of a mix of dragon and human, I can hold my human form for as long as I please, I could live out the rest of my life as a human as I wanted to, but I am less restrained and more powerful as a dragon, and long story short, nothing can stand in my way." Natsu explained as Ultear's eyes widened at the statement. "So what's the job you've got for me?"

Ultear let out a content sigh. "Thank god it's only you, I thought you were going to kill me for a while there, and neither of us would want that." Ultear said as she walked closer to Natsu and gave him a smile, which Natsu returned.

"Nah, where'd be the fun in that. So, the job?"  
"Right." Ultear said as she regained her focus. "Master Hades wants to recover Zeref to activate the Grand Magic World, which, if you agree to help, he will explain to you." Ultear told Natsu, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Sounds simple enough, where do I head to find my brother." Natsu stated as he walked over to his makeshift shelter and picked up a small bag, which had what looked to be a hilt of a sword, a scarf and some jewels, food and water in it. Ultear noted that Natsu threw out all of his ideas for a reward for his help since he figured he could find his much older brother, something that Ultear made sure to remember. Natsu slung the bag across his back and turned to Ultear with a questioning expression, who blinked out of her thoughts that most definitely were not rather mature and involved the pink haired dragon slayer, that would be absurd.

"You can either accompany to the airship, where we would stay for the next three days before moving out, or you could meet us at the island." Ultear said as she walked up to Natsu with a smirk and leaned up into his ear. "I personally would prefer the airship, who knows what might happen." Ultear finished with a sultry look, which Natsu chuckled at. Was she trying to seduce him?

"I slept with you once, and it was because we were both hopelessly drunk after the Oración Seis and the Seven Kin teamed up to take out that small army of Rune Knights. Hot-Eye and Racer teased me about it for months afterwards." Natsu said with a chuckle as he gently pushed Ultear off of him, who pouted at the lack of a reaction that she got from the Dragon Slayer.

"Don't act like you didn't like it." Ultear whined as Natsu chuckled again before facing Ultear once more and leaning down to whisper in her ear, momentarily shocking the time mage on the turn of the tables.

"Oh I enjoyed it, you scream really loud when you climax." Natsu said with a smirk as a dusting of red made it's way across Ultear's face. "As fun as teasing you is, I still want to know where we're going, then I'll decide if I go with you to the airship." Natsu told Ultear as he gave his mountaintop a once over to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"Ah yes." Ultear said, collecting herself from her explicit memories with Natsu. "We're going to Tenrou Island."

 _AAAAAAND cut! So yeah there's chapter 11, most of which I made up while writing, telling my plan to go screw itself, pleasedontkillmeforit. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I had a lot of fun writing the scene between Natsu and Ultear, just a little thing in the past that was never mentioned to Fairy Tail. Lemme know what you thought about the chapter._

 _Oh yeah, I'll also post a link to my inspiration for Natsu's dragon design on the profile page if you want to check it out. I thought it was a pretty cool design and I take no credit for it being my own. Belongs to a person named Kekai Kotaki._

 _EDIT: Oh yeah and I toned down the seventeen times that Natsu rolled his eyes... I'm gonna need a few new sarcastic actions for him... eh, we also have a new poll for a few ideas I'm throwing around if you're interested. It'd help me out if you voted, thanks._

 _I would like to thank you all for reading, and I'll see_ _you guys later,_

 _~Solo_


	12. Upon the Island

In the middle of a forest, a lone man sat. His jet black hair reached down to about his nose, covering his black as night eyes. He peacefully drank from the small lake that sat next to him, enjoying the peace and serenity of his surroundings, where no one could find him, and where he would not hurt anyone.

It was early night, perhaps just after dusk, with light moonlight shining down from the trees onto the man and his uniquely styled robes. He donned a simply black robe that descended to his knees, and sported a gold collar on the robe. Beneath the robe, he wore baggy, dark blue pants that were tucked into a pair of brown boots. On top of all of this, he wore a white sash that was wrapped around both his left shoulder and waist. A small, simple, silver necklace was finally wrapped around his neck, completing the man's appearance.

A low growl made the man pause from his drink. He slowly rose from the lake and turned behind him, only to see a rather hungry pack of wolves had surrounded him whilst he was distracted, unfortunate. There were about a dozen or so of them, but unfortunately, if they did not leave soon, none would survive.

"Please… go away… I don't wish to hurt you." The man spoke softly as he sank to his knees once more. He wished no harm upon the residents of this world, why did they always find him? Was he to be cursed forever? The wolves simply growled in response to the man's words and stalked closer, eager in the hopes of easy prey. The man held back a sob as he knew what was coming.

"Please, please just go away." The man begged as the wolves readied to attack, while a sob of sorrow made it's way through the man's mouth. Here it comes. As soon as the first wolf tensed to leap at the man, a cloud of black magic surrounded him, causing all the wolves to pause at the new display. However their curiosity was their downfall because shortly after the cloud appeared, it detonated.

Black magic was send flying at the wolves, who didn't even have time to react as the magic passed over and through every single wolf in the area, making them all fall over to the ground with a soft _thud_. Every single wolf had been massacred in one single attack. The black magic however, did not stop there. The wave continued to kill the wildlife around the man, wrecking havoc as it continued to spread. Laments finally escaped the man's eyes at he fell to his hands and his tears began their journey to the grass below, which, unlike the wolves, did not die upon impact.

"I tried… I tried to warn you." The man muttered to himself glumly as he placed his hands to his face and wiped his tears away. There was no use in lamenting over what was done. "Even after all of these years, the world still rejects me." The man muttered sadly as he brushed leaves off of his legs and slowly stood up. "Where did I go wrong?"

Closing his eyes, the mysterious figure took a deep breath as he tried in to reign in his raging magic power, with some degree of success. The black magic ceased to destroy all the wildlife in the area and returned to inside the dark haired man who sighed as he felt his magic return to him. "Please Natsu." He sighed into his hands, "Please hurry, I don't know how much I can take… _little brother_."

* * *

The Fairy Tail guild gathered around the stage in the guildhall, eager for what the master was about to announce. This year's S-Class participation trials were rapidly approaching, and today was the day that the lucky guild members who got to take part in the trials would be announced. There was a general excitement in the air as Makarov walked on stage and motioned for the guild to be quiet so he could speak.

The second that the signal to be quiet was given, all noise ceased in the guildhall. Makarov didn't even raise an eyebrow at the loss of sound, his guild was just excited again, it tended to happen around this time of year. The guild master cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

"As is tradition, this year's S-Class trials are drawing near. In a week's time, the participants of the test will all meet at the docks of Port Hargeon. From there, we will sail to Fairy Tail's holy ground, Tenrou Island!" Makarov spoke loudly, causing the guild to erupt into cheers at the mention of the island. "Upon that island, we will see if any of the participants truly have what it takes to become an S-Class Wizard. As you all know, that means that the victor will be able to accept the most dangerous and skillful of jobs. However, enough of that, let us announce the participants!" Makarov declared as the cheering erupted in the guildhall once more. It was the highest honor to be able to participate in the S-Class Exams, and you were remembered forever if you passed, becoming a legend in the guildhall. So the excitement was acceptable.

As Makarov prepared to announce the participants, the guild's current S-Class wizards joined the master on stage, those three being Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, and Gildarts Clive. Erza was clad in her usual armor, with a neutral look on her face as the master prepared to speak. Mira was smiling, as was the usual since she almost lost her little sister years ago. However the story of how her and her sisters survived the experience two years ago is another story, but Mira does have a fondness for the color blue now. Finally, Gildarts Clive stood on stage with smirk on his face as he waited to see who he would evaluate in the exams this year, hopefully someone good.

While thinking of good candidate in the guild, Gildarts' mind flashed back to his fight about two months ago. The Natsu kid had a lot of potential, he had flattened Erza and Gray and even made Gildarts release some of his magic power. That was something no one besides the master could do. Now, that being said, the kid was still a ways away from beating him. However Gildarts' knew that he would get there eventually. The Crash Mage also had liked his spirit, that Natsu was determined to find his father (who, although Gildarts was unaware of him, had removed several of the Crash Mage's limbs and an organ), and that he was not overly arrogant. Something that Gildarts noticed Gray and Erza could use a few lessons in. They were good kids, just a little full of themselves.

Little did Gildarts know he would be meeting Natsu Dragneel again very soon.

"The first participant of this year's S-Class trials is… Gray Fullbuster!" Makarov declared, causing the guild to cheer loudly and Gray to smirk as his name was called.

"Time to show everyone just who belongs on top." Gray said to himself with a smirk. He was certain he was going to win, the only people who were a real challenge to him were those who were already S-Class.

"Next is… Elfman Strauss!" Makarov called out, causing the white-haired take over sibling to yell out in joy.

"Time for me to show everyone who's the real man!" Elfman yelled, making those around him sweatdrop at his usual saying. Did he ever get tired of that? Probably not.

"Our third candidate is… Freed Justine!" Makarov shouted, making the guild cheer once again. Freed himself simply let a satisfied smile make it's way onto his face at the announcement.

"It is time for me to follow in your footsteps Laxus." Freed muttered to himself. It was indeed time for the rune mage to attempt to follow his role model in becoming a powerful mage, even if it was just a title.

"Fourth is… Cana Alberona!" Makarov shouted, which the guild, big surprise, yelled in approval at. The card mage herself simply sighed when her name was called.

"Yay…" Cana muttered to herself. What was this now? Fifth time in a row? How many more times was the master going to put her through the damned trial? More than she could take, for sure.

"Our fifth contestant is… Levy McGarden!" Makarov announced as the cheering continued all throughout the guildhall, with the sheer surprise from the Solid Script mage. Said mage was stumbling over her words as she tried to figure out what to say. Her?

"I-I, wh-what?" Levy stuttered as people around her congratulated her on her achievement. However, she was still so shocked that she barely noticed. A few guild members got a good laugh out of that, especially Gray and Gajeel.

"A good contestant she will be." Makarov commented, chuckling at Levy's confused face. "Our sixth contender is… Juvia Lockser!" Makarov called out, and wouldn't you have it, it gained another explosion of cheering from the guild, and left one certain water mage very conflicted about her predicament.

 _Juvia has to compete against her darling gray… will Juvia be able to do this?_ Juvia questioned herself as the guild cheered around the water mage, who remained dead silent, lost in her own thoughts. The rest of the guild laughed heartily at the second in a row frozen with shock contender in this year's trials.

"And this year's final contestant for the S-Class Trials… Mest Gryder!" Makarov announced as the guild broke in applause for the last time. While this happened, said man, who was clad in a orange and red overcoat and had an interesting scar on the side of his face, smirked at being chosen for the S-Class trials, it was just perfect.

"As I stated before, we meet at the port in Hargeon in a week's time in order to board the boat that will take us to Tenrou Island! Each participant is allowed a partner, as long as they are a part of the guild, another candidate or an S-Class mage! Good luck my children." Makarov announced before turning around and walking off stage, the guild's cheers finally dying down. Even those who weren't chosen for the trials were in good spirits, as there was still the chance they could participate as a team mate.

Lucy held a small smile as she walked over to Gray, who was still smirking like a chump. "So Mr. S-Class, who's gonna be your partner?" She asked, to which Gray laughed.

"Oh you're gonna hate me for it, but I already have my partner." Gray stated as a golden flash appeared next to Lucy, only for Loke to appear out of it, a smirk on his face. Lucy was confused on how Loke had even _gotten_ here without her summoning him, but brushed it off for the time being.

"Long time no see partner." Loke said as he fist bumped Gray, who smirked back at him.

"Ready to rock a trial next week?" Gray asked, to which Loke chuckled.

"Of course, what, think I'm gonna let you down." Loke responded with a small laugh. He was back in the spirit world now and was more powerful than ever, he was ready to kick some ass. However, one celestial spirit mage was still beyond confused.

"Umm.. didn't master say that your partner had to be a member of the guild?" Lucy asked quietly, not wanting Loke to drain her magic for all of the trial just because he was Gray's partner.

Loke only smirked at Lucy's question. "I'm ashamed that you forgot, I am a member of this guild." Loke said as he removed his shirt to show his blue Fairy Tail emblem on his face. Lucy's face heated up as she yelled at him to put his shirt back on and that he was no better than Gray.

Loke openly laughed at Lucy's shouts of anger. "Don't need to worry Lucy, I'll be here on my own magic during the trials. You won't even notice me." Loke responded with a smirk, to which Lucy was baffled.

"You can do that?"

Loke raised an eyebrow at the blonde mage. "I was here for nearly three years on my own magic, remember?" Loke asked, to which Lucy blushed and looked away, mumbling about how all of her spirits were to mean to her. Loke just laughed before dissolving into a golden flash, but not before one final message. "I'll see you in a week partner!"

Across the guildhall, Levy sighed as both of her teammates argued over who should be Levy's partner in the upcoming trials. It was a very repetitive argument, as no actual points were being made. The two men were simply arguing over who was better, basically.

"Listen, Jet, Droy, I really appreciate it, but I think that I'll partner with-" Levy started before a rough voice cut her off.

"She's partnerin' me with me fellas." Gajeel said with a smirk as he slid into the chair next to Levy, causing shock to appear on the faces of all three mages at the table. The Iron Dragon Slayer who had attacked them was teaming up with Levy?

"Who gave you the right to do that?" Jet demanded as he slammed his palms down on the table, fury clear on his face, as it was on his partner's as well.

"You can't just steal Levy from us like that!" Droy cried, making Gajeel roll his eyes at the plant mage. He could and he would. Damn stalkers.

"Well I just did, scram!" Gajeel ordered as Jet and Droy quickly remembered not to mess with Gajeel and booked it for the hills, making Levy sigh in relief

"Thanks for helping me out, now I just need to find a partner." Levy said with a sigh, making Gajeel raise an eyebrow. Did she not hear what he had just said? He had just said he was her partner right? Right?

"You got somethin' in your ears Shrimp? I said I'm your partner." Gajeel said with a bit of irritation in his voice. He didn't fancy being ignored. It was just something you don't do to an Iron Dragon.

Levy blinked, then blinked and blinked again. He was serious? "Um… I appreciate the offer, but why do you want to help me?" Levy asked the Iron Dragon Slayer, who grinned at the question. Wasn't it obvious?

"Well if these are some sort of trials, then we're gonna have to fight, and if we're gonna have to fight, then I'll get to kick the popsicle's teeth in." Gajeel said with a grin that Levy sweatdropped at. He wanted to help her so he could fight Gray, something he did frequently without the trials. Still… he would be a large help in the trials if she needed brute force to back her up.

Levy sighed. "Fine, just don't kill me when you fight Gray." Levy relented as Gajeel let out a cackle and smirked at the thought of his upcoming fights.

Across the guild, Elfman sat at the bar with his sisters, happily downing drinks in celebration of his admittance to the S-Class Trials. Mira giggled as she watched her brother shotgun another drink with a yell of triumph. "Elfman," Mira began with a giggle. "Don't you think you should worry about finding a partner instead of victory drinks?"

Elfman momentarily looked down from his next with a thoughtful look. "Oh yeah, but I'll have no problem finding one, like a real man!" Elfman proclaimed as he raised his arms in the air in victory, making Mira sigh with a smile, but her sister Lisanna frown in confusion.

"I thought he already had a partner?" She stated, making Mira give her a small, confused look.

"What do you mean? Elfman doesn't have a partner, so who would it be?" Mira asked, to which she got a shrug from Lisanna.

"Evergreen has been giving him a few looks every now and then, so I just supposed that she was already partnered with him." Lisanna answered with a shrug, making Mira frown a bit. Was he partnered with Evergreen and already had one too many drinks to remember it?

A quick glance of Bickslow and Freed shaking hands, both smiling answered her question rather quickly. Mira smiled in realization at what was simply Evergreen trying to not be left behind on the trial.

"I think it's just because Freed partnered with Bickslow, and Evergreen feels either left out, or insulted that Freed didn't choose her." Mira stated, making Lisanna shrug at her answer, it was probably right anyways. No need to argue.

"Well in any case, I think big brother Elf now has a partner." Lisanna said with a smile. "Even if he doesn't know it." Lisanna finished as she watched Elfman high-five Macao before downing another drink. She really needed to cut him off. Lisanna sighed as she stood up to stop her brother's drinking, much to Mirajane's amusement. However, that was before the youngest take-over sibling noticed the gloomy Juvia who was sitting in the corner by herself.

Lisanna sighed as she walked over to the water-mage, hoping to help get her out of whatever slump Gray had gotten her into this time. Probably something about not wanting to go to dinner. That usually seemed to be the case.

"Hi Juvia," Lisanna said as she sat down next to the water mage, who did manage to look up at Lisanna. "You look rather down, what's wrong?" Lisanna said as she prepared herself for a long rant about how _her darling Gray_ wasn't paying enough attention to her. But, if she could help Juvia get out of her slump, it'd be worth it.

However, Juvia didn't exactly say what Lisanna was expecting. "Juvia has no clue how she is supposed to compete against her darling Gray in the trials, she can't be his partner!" Juvia cried out in anguish, making Lisanna giggle at the outburst. So that was what had gotten the water mage down?

"Oh that's no problem Juvia." Lisanna started with a smile. "How about I partner with you? With you and I, we're sure to win the S-Class trials, and I'll bet that will impress Gray for sure." Lisanna told Juvia, whose eyes widened with hope as she lunged at Lisanna and wrapped her in a hug. Juvia went on and on about how happy she was to have the take-over sibling's help, simply making Lisanna laugh in response. Juvia could act a bit odd, but she was still a fun girl to be around. Lisanna would try her best to help out Juvia in the trials.

However, no amount of 'trying' could prepare anyone for the storm that was to come.

* * *

A week later in Hargeon Port, all of the contenders and their partners showed up. Gray and Loke, Elfman and Evergreen, Juvia and Lisanna, Freed and Bickslow, Levy and Gajeel, Mest had somehow convinced Wendy to partner with her, and Cana had brought along Lucy. Because bringing the celestial mage who would be a burden without her keys was apparently a great idea. At the time.

The weather was actually rather beautiful for late december. It was early morning, perhaps six or so, and it was surprisingly nice out, and acted oddly like summer. It was a decent warmth, about 55 degrees or so with clear skies and beautiful shining down on the city of Hargeon, which still held a slight grudge against Fairy Tail since Lucy crashed a boat into the docks and Gray destroyed a clock tower after hunting down Bora the Prominence. Good memories. Well… good for Fairy Tail. Not so for Hargeon.

Makarov grinned at those who had arrived from the guild. It would certainly be an interesting trial this year, he simply had no idea who would win. He was secretly rooting for Gray and Cana, as those two were probably the most determined, but he wouldn't be upset if anyone else won. Master's gotta have a couple favorites after all.

"Alright brats!" Makarov called out, gaining everyone's attention before he gestured to the large boat behind him with a Fairy Tail insignia on the sails. "Everyone on board and we'll depart for Tenrou Island!" Makarov called out as he lead his guild on board the giant sailboat.

Gray and Loke were the first on board, both of them claiming chairs on the deck for their own, where they both promptly collapsed in and soaked in the winter sunlight, making the others either laugh or roll their eyes as the boarded the zebrawood ship. Next on board was Gajeel and Levy, with Gajeel walking on board with distaste for the boat. His motion sickness wasn't terrible, but it could make him slightly uncomfortable. He just hoped it didn't develop as time went on.

Levy rolled her eyes playfully at the cautious Iron Dragon Slayer before stepping onto the ship with no hesitation, something Gajeel snorted at before stepping on board. Gajeel let out a small sigh of relief when he felt just fine on the boat, now to see if that held up when they were moving.

Lucy and Cana were next, with the brunette already being intoxicated and needed slight guidance so that she wouldn't fall into the bay. Now that would be unfortunate. The drunken brunette made it on board and proudly raised her arms in the air with a hic as she stumbled and fell over into one of the waiting chairs on deck and passed out immediately. Makarov let out a chuckle at that. He wouldn't have to worry about her complaining about her booze for a while.

Mest and Wendy both boarded the sailboat like normal people, both of them calmly stepping on board, with Mest leaning on the side and Wendy going and taking a seat. However, their normalcy went unnoticed as Elfman bounded onto the boat, preaching about being a real man, while Evergreen reluctantly followed him, her head in her hands. She could already tell that she was going to regret partnering with the white haired idiot.

Freed and Bickslow were both laughing at her discomfort as they boarded the ship, with Freed merely chuckling and Bickslow in full out laughter. Evergreen shot them a glare as she went to go claim a seat for herself, while Bickslow and Freed merely standing in the back, both content with their positions.

Without a word, Pantherlily, Happy and Carla made their way onto the ship and got comfortable, Happy curling up and taking a nap, Carla taking a seat near the blue cat and Pantherlily standing at attention like a trained soldier. Well, technically he was a trained soldier, but that's besides the point.

Last on the boat, was Lisanna and Juvia, both of whom boarded normally, until Juvia noticed that Gray had removed his shirt and began to swoon, making Lisanna giggle at the water mage, before signalling to the master that everyone was on board. The master let out a small laugh at Lisanna before speaking.

"Oh no my dear, not everyone is on board just yet." Makarov said with a laugh, confusing Lisanna before she heard heavy footsteps on the boarding plank and sighed at who she knew was approaching. They just all had to come didn't they?

The entire boat became just a tad tenser as Erza Scarlet stepped on board. It wasn't that the people on board disliked Erza, it was just that she could be a tad… uptight when it came to keeping people in line. Gray knew this firsthand, as Erza had knocked sense into him plenty of times. The redhead was a stickler for following the rules.

A sigh of relief was let out when the happy Mirajane stepped on board the boat. The sweet ivory haired barmaid always put the guild in a better mood. A smile was always on her face and it was certainly not absent now. The poster girl of Fairy Tail looked overjoyed to be a part of the trials, which did make a few members a tad nervous again. Mainly Gray, who certainly remembered her time as the demon from their childhood.

There was little to no reaction when Gildarts stepped on board, besides the hope that no one would have to fight him. The power clash between Natsu and Gildarts about two months back instilled a new fear of Gildarts, as the guy who had flattened both Erza and Gray had a hard time keeping up with Gildarts, who wasn't even going a hundred percent.

"Now we have everybody." Makarov announced as the boat leapt from the harbor and began sailing towards Tenrou Island. A few people were surprised by the sudden departure (Loke and Elfman) but no one questioned why no one was at the helm. Makarov had enough tricks up his sleeve that they just assumed he was controlling the boat by himself, even though he was sitting on deck with the guild.

Fairy Tail settled in and prepared for the boat ride to come, with Makarov only giving a chuckle when Lucy asked how long the ride was. December 16th would be a date to be remembered in Fairy Tail History for a long time.

* * *

After about five hours into the boat ride did the members of Fairy Tail finally begin to get uncomfortable. The weather had gone from mid 50s to high 90s over the course of a few hours, leaving most of the members in their bathing suits and sweating on deck as the humid air and tropical sun beat down on them.

Erza stood at attention, now clad in a black bikini in order to prevent a heat stroke and gazed out over the crystal blue waves that surrounded the boat. While Erza appeared to be enjoying the sun and gazing upon the ocean, her mind was elsewhere. It lied upon thoughts of a pink haired dragonslayer. It had been two months, two days and three hours since she had last seen the dragon slayer, not that she was counting.

Ever since she had seen the black dragon erupt from the forest two months ago, she had been worried about Natsu (not that she would ever admit it, not even under torture). He had let her know of his process of turning into a dragon, and she feared that it had neared completion. However, she still couldn't understand why worry for the Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse clouded her mind. If other people she had worked with before, namely any of those playboys from Blue Pegasus, were turned into a dragon, she would barely bat an eye. And she knew them better than she did Natsu.

Something about that damned prince of the Apocalypse had been messing with Erza for months now, and she wanted to punch him in the face for it. How dare he make her worry about him? He was probably fine anyways, the pink haired idiot was too stubborn to turn into a dragon against his will. Natsu would probably take the dragonification to his grave.

Then why was she so worried?

She was pulled from her worried thoughts when she spotted Tenrou Island approaching in the distance. She sighed and shook her thoughts from her mind as she turned to the master, who simply nodded at Erza and her S-Class companions to head out. All three S-Class wizards left the boat by hopping overboard, much to the others' confusion.

"Uhh.. where are they going Gramps?" Gray asked, making Makarov sigh in realization.

"Ah yes, I haven't explained the first part of your trial yet. The first part is a trial in strength, body mental and physical. Upon Tenrou Island, you'll find eight caves. Three of the caves lead to a fight with one of our very own S-Class mages, they will determine if you and your partner are worthy to move on to the next round. Four of the caves will lead you to a fight with another pair of contenders, so in short, four go in, two will leave. If you're battle route does not get another competitor, then it's a free serenity route for you. The final cave is another mentioned serenity route. If you're lucky enough to have chosen this cave, you'll get a straight shot to the next round. Now, it would be no challenge if the caves were labelled, so you simply have to guess." Makarov explained with a smirk as he saw the horrified faces that formed on some of his brats' faces. "Now now, did you expect the S-Class trials to be easy? You'll have to work for that rank." Makarov scolded his guild.

Gray was the first to collect himself and speak to the master. "Okay, I can see some of us and our partners getting past Mira or Erza if we're lucky, but Gildarts?! That guy's a monster Gramps, taking him on is suicide!" Gray protested, making Makarov smile at Gray's outburst.

"That didn't seem to stop that Natsu fellow, now did it?" Makarov responded with a chuckle, making Gray groan in remembrance of his fight with Natsu. The guy that had mopped the floor with him.

"Natsu is on a different level than all of us, he almost stood a chance!" Gray complained, to which Makarov only raised an eyebrow. Almost? No, Gildarts would have beaten him 10 times out of 10, Makarov was referring to the gusto that Natsu held with him during that fight. No matter the opponent, it made him a force to be reckoned with. However, he would leave that for Gray and his companions to find out.

"I suppose that I should tell you that your trial has officially begun." Makarov said flippantly to the group in front of him, whose eyes all widened as protests broke out immediately.

"You are just now telling us this?" That came from Gray.

"Cana is still drunk!" That'd be Lucy.

"Real men don't spring surprises on people like this!" Take a guess.

Whilst all the arguing was taking place, Freed and Bickslow launched into action, Freed creating wings for himself to fly on and rocketing from the boat and Bickslow being carried by his baby dolls, flying towards the island alongside Freed, which seemed to snap Gray back into action. He leapt at the side of the ship, eager to run towards the island and not get stuck with the Gildarts route, only to slam into a barrier, sending him tumbling backwards into Loke, sending both of them to the deck.

"Hey! What's the big idea Gray?"  
"Oh don't look at me Lion Boy, Freed made some sort of barrier!" Gray retorted as he stood up and helped Loke stand up, and groaned at the barrier. "Do we have any idea what it says?" Gray asked hopelessly to the group, making Levy step up and study the barrier.

Levy frowned briefly as she held her hand up to the wall to activate the barrier and she read the runes that appeared. She let out a sigh as she translated them. "The rune's aren't permanent, they're just here to keep us for leaving for another five minutes." Levy announced, gaining sighs of relief from the mages around her. "I should be able to rewrite them in our favor, just give me bit," Levy said as she went to work, her hands travelling along the lines of runes before she found what she was looking for, who could and couldn't leave the runes. So far 'could' was only Freed and Bickslow, she quickly made sure to add herself and Gajeel to the list. "Alright, it's good, let's go!" Levy announced as she hopped overboard and Gajeel followed with a holler as the plummeted to the sea, only for them to be stopped by Levy making a cloud out of her magic for them to ride to Tenrou Island.

Gray tried to follow once again, and only slammed into the barrier once again. "Hey Levy, you screwed something up, I still can't leave!" Gray hollered, to which Gajeel cackled before yelling back to the ice mage.

"She didn't add any of your names to the list Ice-Brain, it's a competition!" Gajeel hollered as the rest of the people on the boat sank into depression, before Evergreen stood up and walked over to runes, a smirk on her face. She simply walked up to the runes and studied them for a second before smirking and placing her hands against the barrier, and with a soft purple glow, she laughed in delight and gestured for Elfman to follow her as she jumped overboard, which Elfman did without hesitation.

"Working with Freed for so long means I can modify his runes, c'mon Elfman, we have a trial to win!" Evergreen called out as she and Elfman started swimming away from the stationary boat. The two left the rest of the mages on board to sulk, causing the Master to laugh.

"Don't worry brats, this just means that you four will likely have to fight an S-Class mage or each other!" Makarov announced cheerfully as all of those left on the boat whirled on him instantly.

"Not helping!"

* * *

A hooded figure smirked as he made his way through the airship. They were nearing Tenrou Island, he could feel it. Nearing Tenrou Island meant nearing Zeref, and this person wanted just a few answers from Zeref. The spiky haired man let out small grunt of surprise as a figure slammed into him, having been running at full force, knocking him off his feet and sending the hood tumbling back, revealing his bright salmon locks to the world.

Natsu groaned as he pushed the figure that had slammed into him off and noted that it was Ultear's 'daughter' Meredy. He shook off any daze that he had acquired from the crash as he helped Meredy up with a small chuckle. "Where are you in a hurry to?" Natsu asked as Meredy shook her vision in order to clear it. Meredy was wearing a red cloak over a purple and black body suit, with small yellow wings in her hair with long black boots to complete the picture. Seeing that Natsu had helped her up, a small, nervous smile made it's way onto her face.

"Um… I'mrunningfromUltearbecauseIcalledheroldbyeNatsu!" Meredy said as lightning speed as she took off down the hallway again, making Natsu laugh at the little pinkette. She loved Ultear with all of her heart, but seemed to enjoy teasing her just as much. Natsu grinned to himself as he turned back around, only in time to see someone else on a crash course with him as he tried unsuccessfully to round the corner once more.

"Meredy!" Ultear yelled as she streamlined into Natsu, knocking the dragon onto his back again as Ultear landed on top of him, her breasts being squished into his chest. Natsu let out a laugh at the predicament they were in. She just couldn't keep herself off of him.

"Jeez Ultear, you can't even wait until we're in private now, you just want to do it in the middle of a hallway." Natsu joked at Ultear shook her head and blushed at what Natsu said. The time mage quickly stood up and glared at the dragon as he made his way to his feet, a smirk still on his face.

"I'm looking for Meredy, have you seen her? If you lie, nothing for a month." Ultear threatened Natsu, who rolled his eyes at the threat. It was completely false and they both knew it.

"Considering the fact that you basically tore my clothes off when I agreed to stay on the airship, I don't think that _you_ could go a month without me." Natsu said with a crooked grin, making Ultear blush once again. She wasn't thinking straight when she slept with Natsu. Again. The excitement of finally finding Zeref finally got to her and she… slept with his little brother. Nice job Ultear, good start to meeting someone you've been looking for for over five years.

Ultear huffed as she forced her blush to go down. "That isn't important. Have you seen Meredy?" Ultear asked again, making Natsu roll his eyes. Dodge the subject, sure. Why the hell not. Take all the fun out of embarrassing her so she could find the little girl who called her old.

"Maybe I have maybe I haven't, why do you want to know?" Natsu asked, feigning actual curiosity, and apparently succeeding as Ultear sighed and proceeded to explain to Natsu why she was looking for Meredy.

"I was speaking with her earlier about the Tenrou job and she asked if Master Hades was really okay with 'an old lady like me' securing Zeref. She needs to be taught some manners." Ultear explained, making Natsu chuckle at Meredy's statement. Kid had class, he had to give her that. He'd probably congratulate her on it later when Ultear wasn't around.

"Nah, haven't seen her." Natsu blandly stated as he began to walk away, before Ultear grabbed his arm and spun him around, giving a him that Natsu knew too well, after all, it failed on top of his mountain a few days ago. Natsu snorted at what he knew was coming.

"If you tell me where Meredy went, and I know you know where she went, I might just reward you later." Ultear whispered in his ear, making Natsu scoff at her offer.

"I could take you right here in the hallway without asking and you wouldn't resist, now I need an invitation?" Natsu asked Ultear hotly, making her blush again before slapping him on the chest. Only he would think of screwing her in the middle of a hallway.

"That's not the point, do you know where Meredy is?" Ultear asked again, making Natsu smirk and finally cave in. As fun as tormenting her over her sexual desires was, he could always do it later and he wanted to hear about what Ultear did to Meredy. Even if he did like what the kid had said.

"She just ran right by me, probably on her way to cafeteria in the hopes to lose you, tell her I say when you catch her." Natsu informed Ultear, who gave Natsu a thankful nod as she took off down the corridor towards Meredy, with Natsu not so subtly watching her ass bounce as she ran.

Their relationship was nothing more than physical. After Natsu had met and agreed to Hades' terms (which he didn't really care about, he just wanted to see his brother), Ultear had practically dragged him to her room and tore his clothes off. So he screwed Ultear once, and then once more the next morning when they woke up. He was frankly surprised she could walk straight after going at like rabbits all night.

With all of that in mind, Natsu still had a great time tormenting Ultear about her sleeping with him, especially since she couldn't use it against him. She could've stripped naked right there and Natsu wouldn't have been flustered; turned on as hell, yes, but not flustered.

Natsu's happy attitude quickly changed when he heard an announcement blare over the airships PA system. "Attention! The Seven Kin, Bluenote Stinger and Natsu Dragneel are to report to Master Hades' office at once, we are nearing Tenrou Island!" The comm announced before going silent. Natsu sighed and turned the corner he had tried to before, and failed twice on his way to Hades' office. Time to get this party started.

* * *

Upon arrival at Hades' office, Natsu briefly noted that he was the last one to get there as he was in no real hurry. Ultear and Meredy stood next to each other, the latter rubbing the back of her head where Natsu suspected she had a nice bruise forming. Probably what she deserved for calling her maternal figure an old lady, but who was Natsu to judge.

Next to them stood Rustyrose, a silver haired man with glasses stood in the corner with a smirk on his face. He wore a blue overcoat with a furred hood over a dark gray shirt and dark blue pants and blue shoes. He seemed to like the color blue, but Natsu couldn't blame him. He was rather fond of it too, after all, he had used to for several years now.

Next to him stood Zancrow, a crazy looking man with wildly long blonde hair and insane red eyes. He wore a blue and yellow robe that left his right shoulder exposed, showing his black Grimoire Heart mark. Natsu never liked the Fire God Slayer, he strayed a bit too much towards the homicidal pyromaniac for his taste.

To Ultear and Meredy's right was Azuma. The Arc of Trees user was clad in an orange shirt and pants, with a light green chestplate strapped over his torso. He didn't seem to fancy any shoes, which Natsu could respect. He had melted a pair when he was fighting Zero, they didn't seem to fancy Fire Dragon Slayer magic.

Next to Azuma was a very obese man known as Kain. He had ashen gray skin with long black hair and an appearance that Natsu could bear to forget. He wore a dark blue and green cape that was strapped over his chest, and that was it for his shirt. Besides the cape, he wore a black speedo and dark blue boots to complete the look. Natsu tended to avoid him, Kain just rubbed the dragon the wrong way.

Hades sat behind his desk, and all that Natsu could observe about him was that he was a very powerful old guy in a cloak and appeared to be missing an eye. Great leader there.

"As you all know, we are approaching Tenrou Island where we will capture Zeref and summon the Grand Magic World!" Hades announced as he stood up from his desk, making Natsu roll his eyes at Hades before noting that Bluenote was absent. Probably got lost, this airship was massive. "And you, Natsu, will be our scouting force." Hades stated, making all of the Kin's eyes widen and Natsu to smile darkly at the revelation.

"Oh yeah, this'll be fun."

* * *

Makarov smiled proudly at his children who had survived the first round. Loke and Gray had effortlessly beaten Wendy and Mest. Elfman and Evergreen had apparently surprised Mirajane into giving them an opening, which allowed them to claim victory as well. Lucy and Cana had somehow beaten Freed and Bickslow, although the master supposed there was more going on there than was shown, the members of the Thunder Legion should have easily claimed victory. Levy and Gajeel had apparently gotten the route of serenity and it appeared that Juvia and Lisanna had been taken out by Erza.

Makarov sighed, Erza really needed to learn to hold back. He could hear the crashes in the cavern from his current location, at the end of all eight of them. The master briefly wondered if it was luck that none of them had to face Gildarts but brushed it off. It was time to move on with the challenges. He let out a low snigger at what his children would have to face next.

"Congratulations for passing the first round." Makarov announced as he gained everyone's attention. "You all passed with flying colors, except for the three pairs that didn't, but that's besides the point. Your next task is to locate the grave of Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion by six o'clock. Okay, have fun." Makarov stated as he gave his brief speech and sat down, shocking most of the mages present.

"That's it?! No hints or anything?" Gray called out, outraged, making the Master sigh at the outburst. Erza needed to learn to hold back in a fight, Gray needed to learn to hold back negative comments to himself. What a group.

"Often in life you won't be given any hints, now go find that grave, you may use any magic you please." Makarov answered as he closed his eyes and began to take a nap, making all of the wizards present sigh. That was their master all right, it was a miracle he didn't have a mug of beer with him too.

The third master of Fairy Tail smiled discreetly as he watched the group of survivors groan in complaint before trudging onward. Now he would really see who could use their head. Levy and Gajeel would find it just fine, with her mind and his nose they'd probably be first. Gray and Loke, Makarov suspected wouldn't make it. They'd get frustrated and start fighting, and then lose track of time and be disqualified, but that was just a guess.

Cana and Lucy might, if Cana could remain sober long enough to track down the grave and use her head. Makarov didn't know if Lucy would be any help, she had that clock-spirit that could find things apparently, but he had no idea how long that took. So they were a solid maybe.

Elfman and Evergreen were another group that Makarov was unsure about. While they might find the grave, it would probably be more by luck than actual strategy. Elfman tended to punch first and ask questions later and Evergreen already looked worn out with Elfman's antics. Makarov wouldn't be surprised if that partnership fell apart somewhere along the trial, assuming they made it that far.

Smiling as his children disappeared into the lush canopy of Tenrou Island, Makarov decided to wait until six to walk to the grave, making tailing him in the shadows no longer an option. The old master sighed as he relaxed against the rock he was leaning on. Maybe he'd take a nap too while he was waiting. A nap sounded nice. A nap it was. A brief snooze that would awake to disaster.

* * *

Natsu had to legitimately try to keep the grin off of his face as he neared a door on the airship. His job was to scout the island for a bit until Azuma was sent in alongside him. Both of them would work on locating Zeref and would terminate anything that stood in their way. Cracking his neck, Natsu pondered on the name Tenrou Island. It was familiar, but he couldn't place why. Had he committed crimes there before? Probably not, it was apparently uncivilized and remote, so he probably hadn't even been there before.

A tap on his shoulder made him turn around to face a smirking Ultear. She was clad in her white and brown uniform that she usually wore during missions, colors that Natsu didn't care for but who was he to judge. His entire wardrobe consisted of Blacks, Blue and dark Reds. He didn't have a wide color palette, and none of them went well with the pink hair. Something that always irked Natsu.

"Can I help you?" Natsu asked Ultear as he leaned back and smirked at the time mage. Was she here to see him off? How sweet of her. Natsu had to bite back a laugh at it. He couldn't even imagine it.

Ultear rolled her eyes at the Apocalypse Flame Dragon. "I'm here to inform you that there are indeed mages upon the Island like we thought there might be. Expect some resistance if you run into any, and terminate them as you feel appropriate." Ultear informed Natsu, who only nodded his head. Killing wasn't really his forte, but if someone messed with the dragon, he wouldn't show mercy.

That was one thing that Natsu noticed about himself post transformation. Not only did he receive a spike in magical power and the dark blue tribal tattoos on his torso and sides of his head (which Natsu was quite the fan of), he was also more relentless in his fights. He hadn't had that many, but one guild wizard from… Lamb Schale? Natsu didn't remember, had tried to slay him as part of a request he was given. There weren't even ashes of the guy left after one breath attack after the guy started to get on the dragon's nerves. Arrogant little prick.

It made Natsu feel right at home in a dark guild again. Before, he had some inkling of light in him that made Natsu feel more at home alone or in Fairy Tail, which Natsu supposed he could blame on that guild, they were all too happy. However, after his transformation, his ruthlessness and independency increased, making him more attuned to a Dark Guild than a light one. Dark Guilds had less rules anyways. It was more fun that way.

Natsu nodded to Ultear in confirmation as he opened the airship door, revealing sea for miles and a speck that was Tenrou Island in the distance, now was when the fun began. "Fly low, and not as a dragon. Follow that and they'll never see you coming." Ultear yelled at Natsu over the wind that was flying in the door, to which Natsu only grinned before giving Ultear a thumbs up and leaning backwards. Which caused Natsu to plummet out of the airship with a yell of excitement. Ultear sighed as she watched him fall. What was she going to do with that Dragon.

"Has he left?" Ultear heard a voice from behind her, she turned to find Master Hades standing there with a questioning expression on his face. Ultear nodded in confirmation as she closed the door to the airship.

"Yes, he just left for the island. He certainly seemed happy to search for Zeref." Ultear noted as she prepared to leave and ready her own gear for the mission. She had to make sure that her orb was inside her wrist guard and that her uniform wasn't unzipped anywhere in the slightest. Flashing the enemy would be just a tad embarrassing.

"Do you truly believe that he is truly the brother of Zeref? Or that he is hiding something?" Hades asked suddenly, making Ultear stop dead in her tracks. It was a good question. One she had thought about before during Natsu's stay on the airship. She was too surprised when Natsu had turned out to be a dragon, that the whole 'Zeref is my brother' schpiel kind of just went over her head. However, now that she thought about it, how was that possible? Zeref was born over 400 years ago and Ultear knew Natsu to be twenty years old, or at least around there. It should be impossible for them to be siblings, but here he was, claiming they were. His actions seemed genuine, but something didn't add up.

"I believe that Natsu may _think_ that Zeref is his brother, but he simply can't be." Ultear answered evenly as she paced back to her room. She briefly wondered if the dragon that had trained him had lied about Zeref being Natsu's brother, or if he had acquired that from someone else when he was young. The thought of Natsu actually being Zeref's brother briefly flashed across her mind but she shot it down. It was simply impossible.

Natsu smirked as he ignited his body with the familiar blue hue and rocketed towards the island, flying just above the sea so he blended in from a distance, even his his blue was a little darker than the rich blue sea. The dragon felt his eyes begin to water from the wind whipping at them, something that Natsu noticed wouldn't be a problem in his dragon state, but ignored it as he streamlined towards the island in the distance, rapidly closing the distance.

The sea was cut and Natsu rocketed towards the beach, making sea life swim away rapidly from the flying dragon, who was already sure that he was going to have a great day today. He would get to find his brother, assuming that Grimoire wasn't lying to him, get to fight some hopefully strong mages, if he was lucky, and got to fly, which was always a favorite of his.

Cutting off his magic, Natsu let himself plummet into the sea below him in order to slow down his speed and not take out half of the trees on Tenrou with him when he was trying to slow down. Quickly swimming the remaining two dozen feet or so to shore, Natsu burst into blue energy when he got ashore, instantly drying him as he shook his head to get rid of the water in his ears. Shaking his head once more for good measure, Natsu headed into the forest to search for Zeref. Now that was a meeting that the world would want to, and fail to, prevent.

* * *

Evergreen knew they were lost the second that they ran into the forest to escape the giant gecko that had begun to chase both her and her partner. The second that she lost her bearings in the dark forest of Tenrou just also happened to be when they finally lost the damn gecko, just their luck. Evergreen let out a sigh as Elfman let out another cry about manliness.

"Real men don't get lost! They make their own paths." Elfman cried. While usually good advice, it was hopelessly useless at the moment due to the certain fact that they _had no idea where they were_ and couldn't just make their own paths.

"Shut up! We're lost, I get it, just help me find our way back!" Evergreen yelled at Elfman as the two walked into a small clearing. The sunlight made it's way easily through the open canopy at the top of the clearing, giving the two participants a great view of the warm sun and sky, while the forest didn't look so nice. While maybe it looked luxurious at some point, it looked as if something had just sucked all of the life out of the foliage, leaving the trees an ashen gray color with dark black branches that looked as if they had been set ablaze and extinguished before any real harm was done, only blackening the bark.

Elfman let out a yell of anger as another figure walked into the clearing, which quickly drew his attention as a shocked expression made it's way over the black-haired man's face.

"Hey! What are you doing on Fairy Tail's sacred ground?" Elfman yelled angrily at the dark eyed man, who still looked shock that they were here. And why wouldn't he be? He'd been left alone here for over a decade, he figured it would stay that way for quite some time. Apparently he was wrong.

"This is someone's sacred ground?" He asked curiously, a tad of shock still in his voice. "I am sorry, I'll leave immediately." He spoke calmly as he turned to leave the island. It was a shame. He had grown to like the place, it reminded him of a young blonde haired girl he met a while back.

However Elfman wasn't happy with just the man leaving. "Hey!" He called out, "Get back here and take your punishment like a real man!" Elfman yelled out as he rushed towards the black haired man, who blinked before he turned around and staggered as he felt his magic beginning to run rampant again.

"Oh no," He muttered to himself. He needed to warn the two that had found him, he didn't want them to die. "Please. Run as far away from me as you can, I don't want you to get hurt!" He exclaimed as he grabbed his head and frantically tried to regain control over his magic. However it was to no avail as a black cloud began to surround him, making Elfman stop in his tracks and Evergreen cautiously walk up besides him. "Get out of here!" He yelled as the cloud built up, making both of the Fairy Tail mages' eyes widen as the cloud exploded and their vision went black.

Zeref tried to hold back a sob as he stood up, did he kill them? He begged to the gods that had cursed him that he didn't kill them, he had already ended so many lives, he didn't need to add two more. Steeling himself to look upon their lifeless bodies, Zeref turned to where they had stood, only to see a hooded figure standing over both Elfman and Evergreen, who had clearly been caught off guard by the hooded man's attack.

The Black Wizard saw a smile underneath the hood as he walked towards Zeref without a word and he could feel his own magic beginning to run wild once again, he simply hoped the man wasn't foolish enough to try to hurt him.

"Don't worry." The hooded man spoke. "I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk." He said as he walked over to Zeref and his smile grew even widen. Here he was, standing right in front of him. It turns out Grimoire Heart had been right and Acnologia had been wrong after all. "I've waited a long time for this moment… brother" Natsu Dragneel said as he pulled back the hood he was wearing and Zeref's eyes widened as tears made their way into them. He couldn't believe who was standing in front of him, with a big toothy grin that Zeref Dragneel remembered from their childhood, seemingly having not changed at all over 400 years." _Natsu…_ "

* * *

 _And that's a wrap, so there's chapter… 12? Yeah 12. Hope you enjoyed it, I tried to make sure no one rolled their eyes seventeen times this time around. I'm already having a blast with the Tenrou Arc, oh and Happy New Years too._

 _I swear we inch closer and closer to a 10k chapter each time I upload, this one's like 9.8k._

 _EDIT: Well due to the magic of the holiday season I can't read any incoming reviews, there are like (currently) six new ones that I want to read but can't, so still let me know what you thought and I'll get to them at some point, and if you have a question then PM me and I'll be happy to answer._

 _The poll on which story I should write alongside this one will be open until I post the next chapter, so vote if you want to (my personal favorite is the time dragon but that's irrelevant all of the ideas are fun). Also, lemme know what you thought about this chapter and I'll see you guys later_

 _~Solo_


	13. Brothers Reunited

Tears threatened to break free from Zeref's eyes at Natsu gave him a grin. It really was him, his baby brother from over 400 years ago finally stood in front of him. The smile hadn't changed from when he was little and was the happiest there was. Standing front of him was truly Natsu Dragneel. "Natsu…" Zeref trailed off once again, unable to say anything else. He had waited for centuries for this moment, and he still had simply no idea what to say.

The grin never left Natsu's face. "Yes, that is my name, and yours is Zeref." Natsu said with a grin that dialed down a bit. "However I am a bit confused. You are my brother, but supposedly you're over 400 and I'm only twenty, how does that work?" Natsu asked the Black Wizard, who seemed to collect himself before taking a deep breath as a smile made it's way onto his face. It really was his little brother. Natsu smiled as he held out his hand for Zeref to shake, only to be surprised when Zeref took a surprised step back, slight terror on his face.

"Got something against handshakes?" Natsu asked curiously, wondering what made his brother react like that. What? Was just really that ugly?

Zeref shook his head feverently. "No, it's nothing like that it's just.. my magic kills anyone and anything that I touch. I don't want my own brother to die by my Death Magic." Zeref explained to Natsu who blinked once, then twice, before finally chuckling at his brother. He had no clue did he? Natsu supposed not, it had apparently been 400 years for him.

"Death Magic doesn't work on me. Call it a gift from Acnologia." Natsu said with a smirk. It was true after all. Apocalypse and Death magic were practically synonymous, with Death being the more deadly of the two. However, the resident dragon on the island was still completely immune to both. Perks of being raised by the Black Dragon. "So.. handshake?" Natsu said jokingly as he held out his hand once again for Zeref to shake

The Black Wizard stared at his long lost brother for just a second. He knew that Acnologia did not usually give gifts, but his brother would have no reason to lie to him. That and when Acnologia gave gifts, they were typically extremely beneficial to the wizards that survived the encounter. Longing and trust in his brother made Zeref briefly go against all common logic in that very moment for trust in the black dragon's son and lunged forward, wrapping his brother in a hug. And, true to Natsu's word, he was completely fine, Zeref didn't even feel his magic acting up. He almost let out a sob, his first human contact in several decades was his brother.

"Well I suppose hugs work too." Natsu said in surprise as he patted Zeref on the back with a small grin. "But can we get to the 'you are 400, I'm a twentieth of that' part now?" Natsu asked calmly as Zeref sighed and reluctantly let go of his brother. The Black Wizard supposed his little brother did deserve an explanation. Who knew what he came up with on his own, he had quite the imagination as a child.

"You are indeed my little brother, you have the bright pink hair and grin I could never forget." Zeref began with a small, bitter smile, making Natsu chuckle in response. His hair was pretty recognizable wasn't it? "However, you died just over 400 years ago." Zeref continued on, making Natsu raise an eyebrow and actually take a step back in surprise. He died? The dragon certainly didn't remember that happening, just being raised by Acnologia and Igneel.

"I feel pretty alive." Natsu said with a questioning expression as he felt himself up and down. He felt pretty solid and alive. Not dead and lifeless.

Zeref sighed as he saw the beyond confused and shocked look on Natsu's face. "I suppose I should start from the very beginning." Zeref offered, making the pinkette nod. Some details would indeed be nice in this situation.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Natsu answered as Zeref took a few deep breaths in order to calm his elated breathing from seeing his little brother alive and well.

"Our parents died when we were little. You were all I had, so when you died from a sickness it devastated me. I would do anything to bring you back, even if it meant defying the gods themselves, for I had no fear of them, the worst they could do was reunite me with my brother." Zeref explained with a small smile as Natsu carefully listened to Zeref's tale. Awfully glum so far but since Natsu had just died he supposed it was to be expected.

"So I pushed boundaries, went past limits and broke rules, all in the hopes of reviving my brother

It was like listening to a history book about yourself, but you had no idea what was inside. "However, due to my efforts, and before I could successfully revive you, I was cursed for tampering with the line between life and death by the god Ankhseram. He wasn't fond of me messing with his domains." Zeref continued on with the same small, bitter grin that Natsu assumed was normal for his brother.

"So I was cursed to forever be immortal, and to kill any living thing that I touch. Since I was so fascinated by death, and yearned to learn it's secrets it shall be forever kept from me." Zeref explained with a sad smile, making the dragon next to him frown deeply. Cursed for bringing his little brother back? A bit harsh. Why would any god in their right mind curse him anyways?

"Didn't seem to work on me." Natsu said with a shrug, making Zeref smile at his younger brother. It would appear he also still had his flippant attitude from when they were children. The one that always got them in so much trouble.

Zeref let out a small chuckle as he continued. "It would appear so, something I am happy about. However, the other residents of this world are not so lucky. Since that was a factor of my life, I created my demons. I believe you know them. Lullaby, Deliora, and more. They all were created with one reason in mind. To kill me so I could join my little brother." Zeref elaborated, the sad smile never leaving his lips, and Natsu's frown was more and more permanent. He didn't like where this story was going. "However, as you can see, they all failed. When nothing could defeat me, I had an idea. So, with that idea in mind, I created my strongest demon yet, and my ultimate masterpiece." Zeref said with a small smile on his face as he looked Natsu directly in the eye. "That masterpiece was you Natsu. With your body, I reanimated you and created E.N.D. Or, Etherious Natsu Dragneel if you prefer. The strongest demon of all, with your destiny to destroy me, and the world if you so choose. The Demon of the Apocalypse" Zeref finished with his small, bitter smile never leaving his face.

To his credit, Zeref's little brother took the news rather well. It only caused the once-dragon slayer to blink a couple times at the sudden knowledge. Demon of the Apocalypse? Natsu supposed that it did explain why he had the affinity for Acnologia's magic and was easily proficient in it as opposed to his limited Fire Dragon magic. It also might explain why he healed so quickly.

"That's… a lot to take in." Natsu admitted as he shook his head in order to clear up all the details. The Prince of the Apocalypse decided that his brother had no reason to lie to to him, so Natsu did a little recap: He _was_ Zeref's little brother, he had died over 400 years ago, Zeref was cursed trying to bring him back, the Black Wizard had created some of the world's fiercest demons to kill himself, and now Natsu himself was the strongest demon of them all. Oh and if he wanted to he could end the world. Out of all of that, one sudden thought came to Natsu's mind.

"Just when I thought my biology couldn't get any weirder." Natsu mumbled sarcastically to himself, with Zeref caught and gave Natsu a confused look. Natsu ignored it momentarily as he spoke to his brother.

"I suppose I should mention that I remember none of our… childhood together before my death." Natsu told Zeref who didn't look surprised at all, he just stood there smiling at his brother. He had been missing for a few centuries, it made sense that he would not remember Zeref after all of that.

"I suspected as much. After you lost that fight to Igneel and were sealed away, I never truly expected to see you again. But Acnologia has set you free, I will have to thank him for that. I suppose he wanted his ally back from the Dragon War" Zeref muttered more to himself than to Natsu, who blinked at the small revelation. Igneel had sealed him away? The same cranky old fire breathing lizard that always yelled at Natsu that he was sick of his games? That Igneel?

Words of the past rang true in his head at that statement. " _I have bad done things in the past, things I am not proud of."_ From Igneel, " _He killed the last Dragon Slayer he raised, you know?"_ Acnologia. " _In the past he burnt down towns and slaughtered families all because he was a Dragon and we were humans"_ Was Acnologia right all of those years ago when he had killed Igneel? Was he truly a threat?

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Natsu decided he would ponder them later. "Acnologia has done more than free me." Natsu spoke after shaking his thoughts away, and managing to peak Zeref's interest. Had he actually taught his brother his Dragon Slayer Magic? The Black Wizard really would have to thank the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse. Natsu smirked at the fact he was going to reveal. Holding out his arms for Zeref to examine, the black wizard's eyes widened a fraction when he recognized the tattoos that lined Natsu's arms. The one's that were eerily similar to Acnologia's.

"He granted you his power…" Zeref whispered, making Natsu grin again as he took his arms back. Acnologia didn't just grant his power, he gave him a new life. "Then the dragon I know has changed. He did not see you as E.N.D but as Natsu Dragneel. The Dragon King that I knew liked you as an ally, but feared your power. He would not add to it." Zeref noted as Natsu let out a bitter smile.

"Igneel was actually the one who freed me, I suppose he wanted to change my destiny." Natsu started with a bittersweet look on his face. "However, just after a year of Igneel having taken me in, Acnologia arrived and killed him. He took me as his apprentice, and eventually as his son." Natsu explained with a small grin as Zeref nodded. Even as a demon Natsu had the infectious ability to get anyone around him to enjoy his company. Even the Dragon King.

"As his son, he decided that one thing needed to be changed about me, and as you can probably tell, I'm a dragon now." Natsu said with a smirk as Zeref's eyes shot up to meet Natsu's. Actually a dragon? He simply assumed that Natsu was currently in some sort of Dragonforce. His brother could turn into a dragon at will?! Zeref was unsure if this was wonderful or terrible news, and his question was answered when Natsu laughed out loud as his brother's expression.

"You look so conflicted over the fact that I can turn into a dragon. I can maintain my human form for as long as I please, so there was no drawbacks to the transformation. Besides, I don't have some revenge vendetta like dear old dad, so I'm not going to kill anything that opposes me like him." Natsu told Zeref with his usual smile, making Zeref's worries melt away. So his brother wouldn't be corrupted. Good. Zeref didn't know if he would be able to take that if he did. Acnologia was always so absorbed in his revenge quest after what had happened to him that it had consumed him completely, the Black Wizard didn't want that happening to his little brother.

A name briefly popped into Zeref's mind. A name he had not thought about in quite some time, but if E.N.D was truly walking the world again, then perhaps it might just be best if he met his guild once again. Could Natsu handle leading a guild of demons? Zeref supposed Natsu could just have the Underworld King continue to lead Tartaros while he adjusted to his new powers.

"Natsu." Zeref spoke briefly to his brother. "When you leave this island, there is a place I would like you to find. Seek out Tartaros, they can give you more about your past then I could ever hope to." Zeref spoke with a small smile, making Natsu's grin die just a little, but not all the way. Another member of the Balam Alliance? The dragon reckoned he should just be made king of the Dark Guilds at this point. Might be fun.

Natsu sighed lightly as he considered what his brother had told him. The only reason he was working with Grimoire Heart was to find Zeref, he had originally planned to be done with all guilds for quite some time. Especially dark guilds after what happened with the Seis; the Dragon wasn't evil after all. He enjoyed straying towards the neutral line. So he was just a very strong, ill tempered, sarcastic, mean as hell… neutral. A wonderful mixture.

However, his brother wanted him to meet one last dark guild, and it would apparently lead him to the truth in his life. Natsu caved, fine, he would go see the dark guild for his brother. Natsu nodded his head to his raven-haired older sibling. "Fine, after I leave this island I will seek out Tartaros. When I meet them, what do I tell them?" Natsu asked Zeref. After all, he would prefer to not be torn to pieces by the most powerful dark guild in the Balam Alliance.

Zeref's small smile still remained. "Tell them that E.N.D has returned, and that his favorite book is requested." Zeref told his little brother. Tartaros would be in quite the shock when their master returned as a dragon. He wondered what Sayla would think about it, she was always quite curious.

Natsu only shook his head with a smile, before he went rigid and sniffed the air. Had Hades lied to him? He was under the impression that no one else would be deployed until he had given the signal, and Natsu had decided that would be after he had at least an hour with his brother, not 15 god damned minutes.

"Azuma." Natsu growled under his breath. Turning to Zeref, who stood confused at his brother's odd behavior, Natsu spoke again. "Do me a favor and get off this island, the dark guild Grimoire Heart is here to capture you and force something called the 'Grand Magic World' upon Earthland. I'll see if I can just persuade Hades to leave."

The words had an effect on Zeref. On one hand he was touched to see his brother looking out for him, something new in his long life and wished to follow his wishes. On the other hand, Zeref was hesitant to depart from his brother; he had just found him again after 400 years and Zeref didn't know how long it would be until he saw him again. It could be days or centuries

Sensing his brother's unease, Natsu gave him a grin. "Don't worry about me finding you again, dragon's have quite the nose. Since I know what you smell like, I can find you from anywhere within a twenty mile radius or so." Natsu explained with a smile to his brother, who nodded reluctantly as he spoke to his brother for the last time before he would depart.

"Be cautious Natsu, even as a dragon you can fall. Do not repeat Igneel's mistakes." Zeref stated before he disappeared into the foliage, making Natsu frown at his brother's words. There it was again, everyone was acting like Igneel was some great threat and Natsu had no idea why. He would need to look into it.

Turning on his heel from the clearing where he met his brother, Natsu sprinted into the foliage in the hopes of finding that damned Tree Mage and figuring out what the hell Hades was planning. _And I have a feeling the old oak tree wasn't the only one that the old pirate deployed._

* * *

Halfway across the island, it turned out that Natsu was indeed right. The Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox and the Solid Script Mage, Levy McGarden stood in a face off with a lion like creature and a giant chicken. The Lion had already proven to be adept in his eastern version of Solid Script magic and the chicken apparently had no care for the unborn… meaning he could shoot lots of eggs at Gajeel when he was deafened.

The lion.. or goat.. or whatever he was was clad in bright red samurai armor and had a sword that he clearly knew how to use, gauging from the numerous slashes across Gajeel's body that all would have proved fatal had it not been for his **Iron Dragon Scales**.

The chicken was more annoying than problematic, he stood at about seven feet tall and did nothing but fire eggs at Gajeel, slowly wearing down the Iron Dragon Slayer. Had the damned chupacabra not been next to him, Gajeel would've flattened the bird in a second.

Grunting as he prepared to tell Levy to run, Gajeel was cut off as an angered voice cut through the clearing. "And just what in the hell are you two idiots doing here already?" The voice seemed familiar, but Gajeel couldn't place it.

The Lion was the one to respond. "We were told to board the island and begin the search for Lord Zeref! Why are we being scolded for following orders?" The beast demanded, making the hooded figure sigh as he stepped out into the clearing. He was clad in dark grey cargo pants, with silver knee pads on each knee with what looked to be just the hilt of a sword strapped to his hip. His chest was covered by a black chest piece over a dark blue undershirt, leaving his forearms exposed, revealing the navy blue marking that spiraled up and down his arms. However, the most attention drawing feature was that a dark grey hood, same color as the pants, concealed his face so that Gajeel could only see his mouth.

Gajeel couldn't tell who it was, but he knew that the dark blue tribal tattoos dancing up and down his arms seemed awfully familiar, he just couldn't place it. The hood scoffed at the remark. "Yomazu, I know that your lion instincts are taking over here, but I believe your orders were to _search for Lord Zeref_ , not pick a fight with the first Fairy Tail mages you can find." Hood snapped at the lion, now known as Yomazu. Said lion growled at the remark.

"You don't order me around you damned lizard, the only reason you are even _on_ this mission is because you're sleeping with the head of the Kin!" The Lion roared at the hood, who only chuckled at the remark.

Meanwhile, Gajeel had collected himself just enough to launch an attack or two, if he could catch them both off guard then he could definitely take down the damned chicken by himself. Growling as he threw back his arm, Gajeel yelled out at his opponents. "Don't take your eyes off the fight! **Iron Dragon's Club!** " Gajeel roared as his arm shifted into a pillar like iron rod and shot at Yomazu, whose eyes widen slightly before Gajeel felt his attack get stopped dead. The Iron Dragon Slayer looked at the hooded man in shock as he stopped the attack with one hand. Gajeel hadn't even seen him move!

The hooded man sighed at the attack in his hand. "It has potential, but not enough." He mumbled before hoisting Gajeel up by the arm and throwing him into the barely conscious solid script mage, who was knocked off her feet and was completely out of it. Gajeel doubted she even knew what was happening any more.

"Fall back until I give the damn order to move you two, I'll finish these two off here." The hooded man ordered as he calmly walked over to Gajeel and Levy. The Iron Dragon Slayer briefly caught the chicken whose name he never got and Yomazu leaving the area, although reluctantly. The hooded man chuckled when he stopped in front of the Fairy Tail mages.

"Been awhile Redfox, although not that you would recognize me." The hooded man said with a neutral look on his face. It would be a short fight. "I'm afraid I am going to have to dispose of you know. You know we are here and I can't allow that. It is a shame though, my allies and I take no joy in one sided-fights." He spoke calmly as he shrugged his shoulders and balled his fists.

Gajeel damned that blasted pieces of dark gray cloth that covered his eyes and hair so he couldn't see the man's face. Then the Iron Dragon Slayer might be able to recognize him. "Eh, you were helpful before so I suppose you both get to live, all of these dark guilds are too obsessed with death anyways. That and I don't kill guys who help me topple governments." The man said with a shrug as in one fluid movement he swung a fist, alight with blue energy, at Gajeel and struck him right in the temple. The already injured Dragon Slayer never stood a chance. The blow made Gajeel's eyes widen as he realized who he was fighting. As the Dragon Slayer collapsed with the final thought of _we are so screwed_.

Watching the Iron Dragon Slayer fall, Natsu's face remained neutral. Sure Gajeel had been helpful during Edolas, but it didn't mean it wasn't fun to knock him out. It was always fun to knock people out. However he supposed he should feel bad that he had just disposed of a former ally with such little car, but he still had a blue haired girl to knock out.

Just before Natsu could force the other girl out of consciousness, he saw a flash of red race into the sky before exploding into a red firework with a large _Boom!_ that made Natsu's sensitive ears ring momentarily.

The flare allowed a small, barely noticeable smile to appear on the dragon's face. Now this would be interesting, an emergency flare. The bluenette had just alerted the rest of Fairy Tail that he was here, and it made his blood pump faster. The dragon really hadn't gotten a good fight since his transformation and he wanted to see how far he could push himself, just as long as he didn't get himself killed. Natsu had promised his brother that he wouldn't die after all. The dragon didn't even acknowledge Levy as he swung his still alight fist into the barely conscious girl's head, knocking her out cold as well. The grin on Natsu's face only widened as he watched the firework dissipate. _A war between Grimoire Heart and Fairy Tail? You've just made my day._ Natsu thought with a chuckle as he prepared to make his way back to the airship. He still had to figure out the miscommunication of orders after all. However, Natsu had a sinking feeling that no one had gotten their orders mixed up after all and that Hades was planning something, and he planned to punch the old, sour, pirate of a guildmaster in the stomach for it.

Cracking his neck and sniffing the air, Natsu now walked calmly towards the forest. He got to punch something to get some of his anger out, so he had cooled down a considerable amount. He still needed to straighten something out with that guildmaster, and maybe he'd actually get a good fight along the way. He'd already knocked together two head, why not some more?

However, just as Natsu approached the treeline, a familiar scent reached his nose, one of strawberries and metal, making the dragon smile softly at it. Not a grin of malice or hate, but a small actual smile of someone who he had once considered an ally, one who would be horrified at what he had become

" _Erza Scarlet…"_

* * *

Erza started running towards the flare the second that she saw it go off. A red flare meant that an enemy was on Tenrou Island. With all of the participants giving it their all, they would be severely weakened and easy targets. What Erza wanted to know more was who had the audacity to attack Fairy Tail's holy ground without being pummeled into the ground. Some dark guild with an ego too big for their own good perhaps? Erza growled and forced the thought off; whoever it was, they would suffer.

Running as fast as she could, Erza quickly reached the area of where she had seen the flare rise and was horrified at what she saw. Lying on the ground, still as death, were Levy and Gajeel. Anger bubbled inside her but was quickly extinguished by worry for her guildmates.

The Iron Dragon Slayer had obviously taken the heavier of the beatings, his body was littered in slashes and bruises, with a nasty welt forming on the side of his head. His breathing was shallow, but present and his heartbeat seemed to be steady, so all in all, Gajeel had time before he succumbed to his wounds.

Levy on the other hand was much better off, she appeared to be suffering from only magical exhaustion and a few bruises, and another nasty mark on the side of her head. Whoever took them down appeared to enjoy ending them with a headshot. Effective but Barbaric.

Erza sighed as she stood up, she would need to switch into most likely her Giant Armor to carry them both back to the base, hopefully the others had seen the red flare. It could mean life or death if they saw it. Deep down Erza knew that it was more likely death if they hadn't seen it, but she simply didn't want to believe it. However, if she didn't get the two unconscious members in front of her to a medic, preferably Wendy, soon, bad things would happen.

A voice cut Erza from her thoughts. "I see you are enjoying my handiwork." The titania whirled around to see the cloaked man from before, who simply sat in a tree above her with a small smirk on his face. "Shame you couldn't see it in action, Dragon Slayer went down like a sack of bricks." He commented as he dropped out of the tree and landed smoothly, causing Erza to immediately tense up, sensing a fight ahead. The hooded man chuckled at her tensing up. "Now what makes you think I want to fight Titania?" He asked. His voice seemed so familiar, but so distant as well. It unnerved Erza.

"You attacked my comrades and severely injured them, of course I am going to fight you, you will not leave here alive." Erza growled at the hooded man who only smiled more, showing his bright white teeth and sharp canines to Erza, another feature that seemed so familiar…

"If we're gonna fight you might want to put something on that's less revealing." He said, gesturing to Erza's body. The Requip mage looked down and realized with a blush that she was still indeed in her black bikini from when she had been grilling back at the base. She hastily requipped into her Heart-Kreuz armor and glared at the hood, who let out a small sigh at the change in appearance.

"I liked the ponytail better," he mumbled to himself as Erza drew her blade and lunged at the hooded man, who rolled his eyes at the attack. He calmly sidestepped and tripped Erza, earning the Titania a face food of dirt as the hooded man only snorted at her lunge. "I didn't even hurt them that much, that'd be Yomazu and Kawazu that you're after, damn goat and rooster don't know how to follow orders…" The hood trailed off as Erza swung her blade at his feet, which he simply jumped over. Growling at her misfortune, Erza began to glow before she felt a fist plant itself in her stomach and send her tumbling backwards.

She turned to see the hood standing there apparently biting his tongue to try not to laugh. "Well now I know how to get a free show from the queen of the Fairies." He said with a small chuckle as he gestured to her body, and Erza looked down. The Titania turned the same color as he hair when she realized he had punched her in the exact second when her first set of armor had come off and the second was just about to come on. He had interrupted her spell when she was naked as the day she was born. "I'll let you change this time, I promise." The hood said as he turned around and laughed as he waited for Erza to change.

"Now I really am going to kill you" Erza growled as she requipped into her Purgatory armor along with her spiked mace, making the hood whistle as he saw the giant weapon in her hands. That looked like it might actually hurt, if he wasn't a dragon of course.

The hooded man only shrugged. "Sure, give it your best shot." Was all he said before he disappeared instantly and Erza felt a fist make acquaintances with the back of her head, sending her tumbling forwards where she was kicked in the back of her head in the same place, sending her face first into the ground. Erza groaned as she started to push up, only to feel a foot alight with energy pushing her back into to the ground. A brief glance from a turn of her head caused Erza's eyes to widen as she recognized the energy emitting from her opponent's foot. The unforgettable shade of blue of the man she'd been worried about now rested firmly on her spinal cord.

"Natsu?!" Erza cried out in surprise, only to receive a small chuckle from who she now assumed was the Dragon Slayer of the Apocalypse. "What are you doing attacking Fairy Tail?!" She demanded, only to get another chuckle as hood's battle crazed grin settled into one of more amusement than ferocity.

"Natsu huh? That's a name I haven't heard in awhile." Natsu spoke to Erza. Truth be told, he was having a great time toying with the Titania, it helped him let out some anger before he let it all loose on Hades later. That wouldn't end well for anyone. So tuning the anger down a tad was probably a good idea after all. The grin remained as Natsu thought of an idea. She knew him when he was a human, but that was no more, so technically wasn't the human Natsu Dragneel dead? He was a demon and dragon after all.

"You didn't answer my question!" Erza demanded as she struggled to stand, making Natsu sigh lightly as he applied more pressure to her back and shoved her back to the ground, and was caught of guard briefly when she swung her giant mace at his leg, only for it to snap in two the second it made contact. _Guess those scales are worth something as a human_. Natsu pondered as he looked at the shards around him.

"Could Natsu do that?" Natsu asked lightly as he saw the stupefied expression on Erza's face. "Natsu Dragneel is dead, I am stronger than that human could ever be. Make no mistake with my appearance here Scarlet. War is coming, and soon we shall see who will survive." Natsu spoke, taking extra care to sound cold as he brought back his fist and swung it full force into Erza's temple, causing her visions to swim as she was left disoriented on the ground.

Leaving the dazed Fairy Queen behind, Natsu only smiled lightly to himself as he turned in Hades' general direction. That'd leave Erza with plenty of questions and still would make her have no idea who he was. Worked out rather well. Now if there were no more interruptions, he had a old fool to interview.

 _I understand why Acnologia chose to never speak to normal humans now, they really are beneath us after all._ Natsu thought as he made his way towards the guild master of Grimoire Heart.

* * *

Nearby on Tenrou Island, Makarov Dreyar glowered with rage as he saw the airship belonging to Grimoire Heart. The black and red airship was filled with those who held darkness in their hearts and he could feel it. It made his blood boil at the very thought of them even stepping foot on Fairy Tail's holy ground.

With a roar, the master rapidly grew in size as his yellow magic leaked off of him in his anger. When the transformation was complete, the once three foot tall old man stood at a height of fifty feet, with a murderous intent in his eyes. Without hesitation, he swung his massive arm forward and tore a hole right through the airship, yelling in achievement when he saw the massive damage he had done. Maybe it would teach those criminals not to mess with Fairy Tail.

Which is why he was surprised when the airship began to piece itself back together, picking up parts that had fallen into the ocean even and restoring the airship completely. Makarov growled at the action, so he'd have to take them out all at once.

" **You criminals have until I count to three to get the hell out of my sight! If you aren't gone by then, you all will pay the price!** " Makarov roared as he brought his hands together and harsh, golden, holy light escaped them as he prepared one of Fairy Tail's ultimate spells. Fairy Law.

" **One…** " Makarov growled out at the airship. He would give them guts for not moving, but it would all be in vain when he wiped all of them off the map with Fairy Law in a single instant. Their assurance in themselves would be their downfall. He did see one figure jettison from the airship on a jetpack, rocketing past Makarov in what he assumed was the dark mage fleeing. A wise move on the dark mages part. " **Two…** " Makarov trailed off as he felt the magic of Fairy Law build up in his arms, begging to be released. " **Three! That's it! I gave you all a warning, now it's time to pay! Fairy… LA-** " Makarov began to yell before he was cut off.

"Now now boy, is that any way to treat your old master?" A _very_ familiar voice called out to Makarov who froze at the voice. It couldn't be… he was far older than even he was, he would be ancient by now. The Second Master of Fairy Tail had to be dead by now.

" **Master… Precht?!** " Makarov demanded as he let his Fairy Magic erupt in his hands once more. His own master had turned against him? Makarov would make sure that he would never hurt any of his brats even if that was the case at hand.

"I know what you are thinking boy, and it's a terrible idea." Hades spoke with disdain as his hands began to glow an ominous purple color and he brought them together in a similar fashion to that of Fairy Law. "Try that little spell of yours and this entire island, along with all of your brats, will perish. Grimoire Law counters Fairy Law perfectly, and causes quite the explosion afterwards." Hades informed Makarov, who warily lowered Fairy Law, only for Hades to do the same. However, before Makarov could speak again, Hades lashed out, with two magical chains latching onto the giant and tossing him into the ground as if he weighed nothing.

Makarov grunted heavily as he felt himself forced to return to his normal size by the sudden attack. He shrugged off the pain as he stood up to face Hades, who now stood in front of Makarov, even though he had just been perched on the airship. Ignoring his old master's speed, Makarov yelled as he swung a fist at Precht, that elongated and nailed the Second Master dead in the chest, forcing him backwards with an audible grunt from Hades.

Forcing Makarov's attack off of him, Hades simply stood up as Makarov roared at his mentor and swung his hands down, sending several spears of light at the master of Grimoire Heart, who simply raised his hand in defense. As he did, a shield of purple appeared in front of him, which absorbed all the magic out of Makarov's attack the second it connected. "You can't beat me Makarov, I'm more powerful than you could ever hope to be." Hades commented as Makarov's attack rapidly turned dark purple and was fired back the Third Master, who leapt out of the way, but was still caught by the explosion and forced into the air, where he growled.

As he was in the air, Makarov brought his hands together again and fired the same attack as before, but this time in a much larger quantity at Hades, who raised an eyebrow but brought up his arm to block the attack anyways. Due to the rapid amount of magic present, Hades stood fast as his shield absorbed Makarov's attack, only for the Third Master to land soundly on the ground and swing an enlarged haymaker into the Second Master, who was helpless against it as he was already absorbing one spell.

Hades fell backwards with a loud grunt as he lost his footing and momentarily stumbled, tripping over a root as Hades fell to the ground. Cursing his luck, Hades saw Makarov loom over him with an ominous aura as he brought his hands together once more. "Now that I have your attention." Makarov growled to his old master, who was still trying to free his foot and was two seconds away from simply vaporizing the root. "Let _me_ give _you_ a lesson Master Precht. Never mess with Fairy Tail!" Makarov declared as the Fairy Light began to glow in his hands once more. " **Fairy L-** " Makarov started before he was cut off once again.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " A hooded figure yelled as it rocketed from the tree and slammed into Makarov. The attack wasn't enough to completely hurt the master, but it was enough to knock him off balance, which was all Hades needed. A cloaked Natsu Dragneel had come to the rescue… again.

The Grimoire Master grinned as he vaporized the root holding him in place and spun on Makarov with his arms raised, " **Amaterasu: Formula 28!** " Hades called out as a sphere of purple energy surrounded the master of Fairy Tail, causing him to cry out in pain. Then, with no warning, the sphere detonated, causing a large purple explosion that the hood had to shield his eyes from as Hades looked on in satisfaction.

When the smoke cleared, Makarov was damaged, but not downed. He had seen better days, he was battered and bleeding in several parts from the ruthlessness of being trapped in an explosion and he looked like he could just fall over.

Hades let out a small laugh at the fact that Makarov was still standing. "I have to give it to you boy, tanking that attack and being able to stand afterwards is not a feat most can boast about." Hades stated as he lowered his hands to his sides. "But surely now you see the gap in our power, I am simply stronger than you. The last error was simply due to this damned island of yours" Hades smugly stated as Makarov growled at him.

"Why Master Precht!? You were the one who taught all of us about peace and harmony! Why have you fallen to the dark!" Makarov angrily yelled.

Hades snorted in response. "I went to look for the origins of magic, and they do not lie in the light boy. They lie in dark, unforgiving places that will beat you to your knees if you do not fight back." Hades snapped at Makarov as he gestured to the hooded figure besides him, who shrugged as he walked over to Hades and Makarov.

"What you old pirate man? I just saved your ass and now I get to be ordered around?" He asked hotly, his voice full of impatience. Makarov was briefly taken aback at the young man's tone of voice and Hades was clearly not amused by it either.

"I would watch your tone when you speak with me, _boy_." Hades growled at the hood, who appeared to chuckle lightly in response. The old man thought he could hurt _him_?

"We both know who would win in a fight, there wouldn't even be anything left of you to bury." The hood stated as the tattoos on his arms pulses with energy, making Hades frown at the action and Makarov's curiosity to peak. Who was the man who could so daringly challenge his old master?

"You gonna take care of him?" The hooded Natsu Dragneel asked as he gestured to Makarov. "I have a few questions I don't want him overhearing." He stated with barely hidden annoyance. The dragon was about five minutes from putting someone's head through a tree. That wouldn't end well for anyone, except maybe Natsu.

Hades snorted. "Yes, I suppose I should." The old guildmaster said as he turned to Makarov with an honest expression. "I am truly sorry for this Makarov, but I can't have anyone standing in my way when we are so close to our goal. It pains to me to have to destroy the guild I once ran. Goodbye, old friend." Hades spoke as he pointed his finger towards Makarov in a gun like fashion and blasted him right in the chest with a bolt of energy, making the master cry out in pain as he tumbled a few feet and drifted into unconsciousness. The master of Grimoire Heart was simply too strong.

Natsu snorted at what he qualified as an execution. "Could've just bopped him on the head old man, don't need to kill everyone that get's in your way." He commented as Hades turned towards the dragon from his fallen student.

"Why are you here, you are supposed to be looking for Zeref, or have your wishes to see your brother become void?" Hades demanded from Natsu, who narrowed his eyes slightly at a growl rumbled in the back of his throat. Damn pirate needed to learn his place.

"I was searching for _my brother_ , until you messed up the damn plan to wait until I report back with my results. Your men messed up my search, their scents were clouding up the island." Natsu retorted hotly as he crossed his arms at Hades who only raised an eyebrow.

"I was under the impression that a dragon could find anyone from twenty miles away."

Natsu scoffed at the remark. Sure his nose was good but did Hades think it was a freaking tractor beam for what he wanted? News flash Hades, noses don't work like that. "Let me put it in simple terms. Take a needle and throw it in a small haystack, hard enough already since there is a lot of hay distracting you from the needle. Now throw in three other needles and tell me to find the original. That's what you just did." Natsu explained with quite a bit of annoyance as Hades sighed at the explanation.

"Well it is too late now, go on, go find the true needle I suppose, the Seven Kin will be along shortly to help you." Hades ordered as he readied to return to his airship, making Natsu roll his eyes at the orders.

"Sure, add more needles to the haystack, why not." Natsu mumbled just loud enough for Hades to hear. The Apocalypse Dragon waited long enough for Hades to leave his sight before sighing heavily and leaning against one of the many trees in the forest around him. That could have gone better and worse.

But one thing was now sure, Hades was hell bent on finding his brother, and he needed to keep everyone away from him. He supposed he could persuade the Kin away from him, claiming his dragon senses and having already swept the areas with small white lies, but he would have to force off any Fairy Tail members that drew near. There was already the unconscious two from before that he doubted had woken up yet.

And he was sure that there were more to come.

* * *

 _ **HEY! DOWN HERE! BE SURE TO READ FOR POLL RESULTS!**_

 _ **Thank You,**_

 _Ok yes I promised that this would be here on Monday, I'm sorry. Unexpected plans came up and I had a great time doing them, no regrets._

 _That being said, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, the Zeref and Natsu meeting is a bit awkward at parts but I think that I did okay… right? But lemme know what you thought, I always enjoy reading reviews, even the ones that tear into my stories._

 _So I'm closing the poll now, the results are as follows._

 _Swap Natsu and Zeref - 15 votes_

 _Council - 12 votes_

 _Twins - 11 votes_

 _Dragon of Time - 9 votes_

 _Tower of Heaven - 9 votes_

 _Yukino and Lucy Swap - 6 votes_

 _and 5 people told me to just work on Backlash._

 _Thanks for voting so I have a general idea of what people want, and if you're new here and want a more in depth description is on the closed poll on my profile page, just PM me if you can't find it and I can explain the plots a bit._

 _Thank's for reading, and I'm sorry about the longer author's note, see you around._

 _~Solo_


	14. An Alliance Broken

Wendy had a feeling that something was wrong the second that Carla and Pantherlily came yelling at her about danger. It was obvious really, who wouldn't get the message from the shouting? What confused her was why there was any danger. The strongest members of Fairy Tail were here, who would even dare to attack them? A brief flash of the roguish grin of a certain pink-haired Dragonslayer was shaken from her head as she turned her attention to Carla.

Even without the visions there was a sense of danger in the air. Carla could feel the light and dark magic already fighting for control over this island and she hadn't even seen a fight yet. It still looked like the lovely day that they had before. The sun was shining down, the waters were a deep sea blue, and the island looked simply wonderful.

So why was it that she was so worried about Wendy?

"Wendy! How did you miss the red flare?! You were supposed to return to camp immediately! We were worried sick about you!" Carla cried out as Wendy looked down to her feet in shame. She was never told what a red flare meant. Luckily, Mest stepped in to help her out.

"Hey, Carla, it's my fault. We must've still been in the cave when the flare went off and we didn't notice it." Mest calmly responded, gaining an angry look from Pantherlily who grew in size before marching up to Mest and getting up in his face, causing confusion to Wendy and apparently Mest as well. The latter more looking caught red handed than confused, but still.

"I don't know who you are, but you certainly are not Mystogan's pupil. I was informed that the prince was a sort of recluse in this world, unlikely to take on a student. Who are you?" Pantherlily demanded as Wendy attempted to interject, but was silenced quickly by Carla.

To his credit, Mest did manage to look rather confused, and hid the 'caught red handed' look rather well. "I'm sorry what? I trained under Mystogan for years, why the sudden doubt?" Mest asked, confusion lacing his voice, which only made Pantherlily growl again as he prepared to thoroughly interrogate the supposed impostor in Fairy Tail. Mest involuntarily took a step back, a small amount of fear on his face. "Lily, I really don't want any trouble, are you feeling alright?" The scarred man asked fearfully as he kept taking steps back to avoid the enraged muscular cat.

Just as Pantherlily prepared to yell at Mest again, the accused's eyes widened as he suddenly leapt forward and slammed into Wendy, causing the bluenette to squeak in surprise, and for both Carla and Pantherlily yell out in outrage. Both cries were silenced in what happened next.

Just after Pantherlily cocked back his fist to strike Mest, the ground beneath his feet erupted into a fiery explosion, sending the black cat tumbling with a shout of pain, and Mest's back was singed by an explosion close to his right, that could have heavily damaged Wendy if it wasn't for the teleportation mage's sudden action.

"What on earth was that?!" Carla cried out in shock as the flames died down to reveal the slightly cooked Mest and a completely unharmed Wendy. The older mage groaned as he felt the burns on his back kick in. They were minor but still stung like hell.

"An attack?" Pantherlily questioned as his tense posture straightened and readied itself for battle once again. Years of training taking the cat over and readying him for any possible outcome. However nothing would be able to prepare him and his companions for the events about to unfold.

"I don't think that 'attack' is the term we'd use." A voice came from behind them, causing everyone to spin around. There they faced a familiar hooded figure and another clad in an orange tunic and green breastplate. "I think that Annihilation is more correct, ain't that right Azuma?" The hood asked, a small smile visible on his face.

His companion, Azuma, simply nodded. "Yes, I doubt any of them will prove to be a real challenge. A shame, we'd been told to be careful." Azuma spoke, his deep voice calm and collected, and his statement made the hooded man chuckle.

"If they fall as quick as Redfox and the blue haired girl did, then this'll be over quick." He noted as he cracked his neck and rolled his arm. "Which one you want? The giant cat or the Rune Knight?" The hood asked, making Mest's eyes widen and Azuma to shrug his shoulders. However his statement didn't go unnoticed by the Fairy Tail mages.

"What do you mean Rune Knight!" Pantherlily demanded, making the hood snort. So they still hadn't figured it out? Maybe it was just his enhanced senses as a dragon. But they had two Dragonslayers of their own right? One of which was standing right there…

"Orange coat, he reeks of the council. Kinda surprised you hadn't figured it out." The cloaked Natsu Dragneel stated as he rolled his eyes under the hood. Had they honestly not figured it out? He had such high hopes for Gajeel and Wendy.

"Mest!? Is that true?" Wendy cried out, making Mest sigh as the bluenette's outcry. He supposed it was time that the truth finally came out. 'Mest' was just surprised that it was their attacker that figured it out.

"I suppose it had to come out at some point." Mest muttered. "Yes, I do indeed work for the Magic Council. My name is Doranbolt I was sent to infiltrate Fairy Tail and see if there was anything they could use to have you permanently disbanded. According to them, you've been nothing but a pain that they simply can't get rid of." The now Doranbolt revealed to the mages present.

Wendy let out a squeak as she hid behind Pantherlily, who looked ready to tear Doranbolt apart. "So you lied and deceived your way into our guild?" Pantherlily growled, to which Doranbolt only nodded and held his hand up to Pantherlily as the cat began to advance.

"You can attack me all you please later, but we have two dark mages to deal with first. Like it or not, we are both part of the light, and they aren't." Doranbolt stated as he gestured to the hooded Natsu and Azuma, the former waving in a sarcastic manner. The large exceed growled before grudgingly agreeing and turning to the dark mages.

"And here I thought you had forgotten about us." Natsu mocked causing Pantherlily to twitch at the remark. This dark mage's jabs reminded him a little too much of the Edolas Natsu Dragneel for his liking. The one that had pumped several electric rounds into his chest and left him for dead. That one.

Natsu turned to Azuma and asked him a question. "By the way, you never answered my question earlier, you want the cat or the rune knight?"

Azuma shrugged. "Neither will pose much of a challenge. I will accept the cat I suppose. His limits are unknown." Azuma responded as he cracked his knuckles and small smirk appeared on Natsu's face. It'd been awhile since he'd fought with the council. They really didn't like him much after he nearly killed the king back in Crocus as a member of the Seis. Regicide typically didn't sit well with them.

"Well, let's get right into it then." Natsu stated as he leapt at Doranbolt, surprising the enforcer with a punch to the stomach that instantly winded him and gave Natsu the upper hand. Taking a step back, Natsu swung his foot around and kicked Doranbolt in the chin, sending him tumbling backwards as the dragonslayer advanced. Bringing his arm back, Natsu swung forward just at Doranbolt stumbled up and found a fist eager to meet his right cheek. The impact caused a large bruise to begin to form and send Doranbolt sprawling onto the ground, where he groaned as Natsu leisurely made his way towards him.

Taking the momentary break from the onslaught of blows to recuperate. Doranbolt shook away the stars dancing in his vision and ignored the stinging pains in his head and summoned up his magic. The dark mage in front of him appeared to not have any, as they weren't known for holding back, so he decided to play his card. However, what Doranbolt did not expect was for when he reappeared with his arm already swinging forward to strike his opponent that the hooded figure would twirl around and grab his fist, and responding with a knee being driven straight into Doranbolt gut, effectively removing the air from his lungs as he collapsed to the ground, causing Natsu to snort.

"I don't even have Cobra's sound magic and I could hear you a mile away." Natsu responded as he gripped Doranbolt's shirt by the collar and hoisted him up. Natsu didn't give the man time to think as he threw him into the air with a slight grunt and gave off a small grin as he watched Doranbolt fly up into the air.

"And what goes up…" Natsu trailed off as Doranbolt's ascension stopped and his descension began. Cocking his foot back, Natsu locked his eyes on the falling, barely conscious, council member and timed his next move. Right as Doranbolt was going to hit the grass below them, Natsu lashed his foot forward and nailed Doranbolt right in his back, causing a nasty crack to be heard and Doranbolt to fly forwards into the ground at a much higher speed, rolling for quite a bit before stopping. "Must come down…" The dragonslayer finished.

Natsu wasn't sure if the teleportation mage had died or not from the last attack, but he really didn't care. He just needed to get all of these people off of the island so his brother wouldn't be threatened. Turning just in time to watch Azuma detonate the ground below a heavily breathing Pantherlily, effectively disabling the warrior feline, Natsu felt the small smirk on his face grow just a little bit larger. Not even a challenge.

Casting a look to the cowering Wendy, Natsu felt something stab at his heartstrings as he watched the terrified look on her face. Letting out a grunt, Natsu walked over to Azuma. Wendy didn't deserve to be terrified at this moment, she shouldn't even be here right now. Wasn't some sort of trial to find the strongest member of the guild or something? Why was a little girl here?

"C'mon Azuma, the rest of them pose no threat. We have a job to do." Natsu spoke calmly yet sternly as Azuma nodded. No one here was of any threat. Of course Natsu was purposely ignoring the small fact that Wendy might heal her guildmates, and Azuma didn't know that she even had that ability.

"Did you really have to beat the cat up that much? He was already disabled." Natsu muttered to Azuma, causing the Tree Mage to shrug.

"If he is a worthy opponent he will be fine, if not, then he isn't worth my time." Azuma declared, making Natsu groan. The Oak-Brained idiot and his lust for battle got very annoying at a point, and Natsu had already met his limit.

"Sure, whatever, let's just get out of here and look for Zeref." Natsu said, slipping a small white lie through his teeth. It was more that Azuma and the rest of Grimoire would be looking for Zeref. Natsu had already found him.

Beginning their trek away, Natsu turned back one last time to look at Wendy and the cats. He truly did miss fighting with the blue cat, their fight with Cobra was a great time, but no he stood in his way of protecting his brother. And a dragon always protects what he values. The same went for Wendy. The little girl should never need to fear him, Natsu never had any intentions to harm her, but she would get the message to steer clear of him for the time being. For now, he had a guild to flatten. Maybe two.

* * *

Gray knew that it was going to be a long day the second that apparently every single goddamned dark mage on the planet showed up hungry for their blood. Every time he took one down, ten more took their place. It was extremely frustrating. Not because he was going to be overwhelmed or their strikes were getting too much, god no. It was because every damn time he felt some sort of pride in taking down a member of the guild, another dozen showed up ready to take more blows. More frustrating than one might think. Of course for a former dragonslayer, he'd love more and more challengers arriving, but that is not the point.

Gray let out a small groan as his attack blew a mage off of his feet, only to watch three more rush in behind him. Letting out a battle cry as he brought his arms back, a seal appeared in his hands. " **Ice-Make: Lance!** " Gray shouted as he thrusted his arms forward and spears of ice were launched from his hands, blowing back the three enemy mages, one of whom was unlucky enough to fly right into a Taret Card that had been thrown by Cana Alberona, the resident alcoholic who was surprisingly sober during the fight.

The brunette let out a yell as she threw forward her hands and lightning erupted from the cards, shocking and paralyzing several dark mages who didn't get back up after the shock. Most likely knocked unconscious from the blast. Cana let out a huff as she took a step back and immediately had to throw another card right into the chest of a swordsman who had leapt at her, making his chest erupt into a ball of fire, which Cana flinched at, as he sailed backwards. That one really had to have hurt.

Ducking under a blast of black magic at her head, Cana drew another Tarot Card and chucked it, smiling lightly when she saw the dark mage it hit poof into a small chicken. She really loved her transformation cards.

However, the small smile was when the tides began to turn. With Cana momentarily distracted, she missed one of her opponents behind her until she took the blast of a fireball straight to the back, knocking her off of her feet and sending her tumbling forwards with a cry. Her back stung like a bee's nest was the only thought occupying Cana's mind as she slammed into the stone ground, gaining Gray's attention.

The Ice Mage only spared a glance and in that moment he was suckerpunched by a dark wizard with glowing fists, who let a dark grin make it's way onto his face as he delivered a right hook to the side of Gray's face and made him tumble. The Ice Mage soon saw Lucy join them on the ground and groaned. They had gotten distracted for less than ten seconds. Ten seconds.

Gray growled as he thrashed around on the ground, determined to get free. In a brief glance he saw Cana simply close her eyes and relax, while Lucy was screaming at the top of her lungs. Feebly trying to bring his arms together to create an attack that would free them, Gray bitterly realized that Lyon might have actually gotten free by now, having been able to use one handed Ice-Make magic.

"That is quite enough, I shall be their opponent. The rest of you go find our objective." A calm, oddly goat like voice spoke out, causing the dark guild members all to freeze what they were doing, before the ones holding down the Fairy Tail mages grudgingly let go and scampered off before they could be attacked. Turning to their 'savior', the wizards of Fairy Tail saw that it was indeed a rather large goat man who stood calmly. As if he was waiting for them.

"Greetings, Fairy Tail. On behalf of Grimoire Heart, I offer you a challenge." He spoke, his voice still even as ever.

Gray only raised an eyebrow at the large mammal. "What sort of challenge." He spoke, distrust obvious in his voice. Why shouldn't he be suspicious, Grimoire Heart was a member of the Balam Alliance, their guild wasn't any sort of pushover.

"Simple, defeat me and you may live, but if I defeat you, then all of you shall perish." The sunglass wearing goat spoke. Seemed simple enough.

Gray only snorted in response as he drew his arms back to cast an attack, Cana shook off her daze and drew a card and Lucy readied Leo's key, still shaking slightly from earlier. Little did the mages of Magnolia know, this was only the first of many battles their guild would encounter. The beast and the medusa would fight against the mind. The shapeshifters against the king of the trees, as would the queen of the fairies. Ice would battle time, love would battle hate, and most importantly, the Apocalypse would wait for when it was needed.

Afterall, the END can never afford to be rushed can it?

* * *

A decent way across the island, two dark mages searched for their objective. The busty purplette known as Ultear Milkovich and the blonde godslayer called Zancrow both eagerly searched through the tropical foliage of Tenrou Island. Eager to find Zeref and kickstart the Grand Magic World.

Ultear huffed as she disintegrated yet another branch that stood in their way with her **Arc of Time** magic. The search was going poorly. She just hoped that the others were having some more luck than she was, and if the explosions all over the island were anything to go by, then she was unsure.

Ducking under another branch in front of her, Ultear's eyes widened slightly as the foliage in front of her shifted from a rich green to dull gray, as if all of the life had been sucked out of them. The ground beneath their very feet seemed to die more and more with each step, and even the water in the small pond was shaded a light gray. The area looked like an image from the underworld.

"Zeref was here…" Ultear trailed off, while Zancrow rolled his eyes.

"What gave you that idea? The dead everything? Maybe the jacked up water over there?" Zancrow remarked sarcastically as he walked into the clearing and scanned the area for any sign of life. He came up with none. The entire area had been wiped clean of life. "Maybe he was here, but he sure isn't now." Zancrow noted as Ultear sighed and entered the area as well.

The purplette took careful observation of the area before turning to Zancrow. "We'll split up here, you search south of the area for Lord Zeref and I will search north. Anyone who stands in your way is fair game, but do not go picking fights Zancrow, am I clear?" Ultear ordered, making Zancrow nod as he turned around and sprinted into the dead foliage, leaving Ultear alone in the clearing. It was a good thing too. Zancrow would only get in her way when her plan was put into motion.

The time mage took careful note of her surroundings once again, hoping to find some sort of clue as to where to go. All the foliage and wildlife had been killed in a perfect circle, anything beyond that was absolutely fine. Moving on as if nothing had happened. Not even tracks were left from whatever had killed everything here.

Groaning at her lack of luck. Ultear turned northward and walked into the foliage, mumbling to herself about how it should be easier to find the darkest mage of all time. Considering that he typically left a trail of death and destruction in his path. Of course the universe seemed to enjoy proving people wrong.

Cursing under her breath as she was thrust back into the foliage. Ultear growled lightly as he held out her hands and vaporized all of the trees and branches in front of her in a single movement, her **Arc of Time** proving to be useful once again. The attractive purplette smirked at her work and made her way through her new tunnel. It would be a shame not to.

* * *

It wasn't for quite some time until Ultear finally found something interesting. She mostly spent her time searching through foliage, disintegrating trees, finding small false leads and generally being less than content with the whole situation. The Leader of the Kin swore that if someone had already found Zeref and simply didn't contact her there was going to be hell to pay. It would probably be Natsu as well, the dragon enjoyed messing with her.

Ultear was so zoned out as she made her way down a path that she didn't notice a robed black haired man until she nearly ran into him. Immediately backpedalling, Ultear looked up to see a face that she wasn't expecting.

The man in front of her gave her a strange look before continuing to walk past her, causing her to stumble as she looked for her words. He clearly wasn't a member of Fairy Tail or he would have attacked her, was this Lord Zeref?

"L-lord Zeref!" Ultear cried out, making the man freeze in his tracks as he turned around to face her. Judging from his tense body posture, something told Ultear he wasn't all too thrilled to hear his name. He turned to the time mage and looked her up and down, his mouth set in a neutral line.

"It has been many years since I have heard the name Lord Zeref." The man mused as he finally looked Ultear in her eyes, and she didn't like what she saw. She saw death in those pitch black orbs of the most powerful mage of all time. There was chaos and power swirling around, with the aura of making her feel like nothing but an ant. "Why have you sought me? I can do nothing but bring you death." Zeref stated wearily. As if he was in a hurry to get somewhere and had already lost his way.

"I have arrived to take you with us, so we may awaken you!" Ultear cried out, making Zeref raise an eyebrow before realization set in. _Those fake keys… they didn't, no one would be stupid enough to… they did didn't they?_

Zeref was silent for some time as he observed Ultear. However it didn't feel like she was being ogled by her Lord, merely like he was trying to decide what on earth to do with her. "I'm afraid I will not come with you. I am already awake, and was never sleeping to begin with." Zeref stated as he turned around and began to walk away, leaving a confused Ultear.

 _Alright… if he won't come willingly, then I'll have to bring him with us by force!_ Ultear thought with grim determination as she raised her arm and let a small green orb float out her vambrace and hover into the air. " **Arc of Time: Luminous Minutes!** " Ultear chanted as the crystal orb suddenly split into dozens of green balls and all launched themselves at Zeref, who merely turned around at the sound of Ultear yelling.

His eyes barely widened when he saw the attack coming. Natsu had warned him that Grimoire Heart wanted to take him in, even if he wasn't willing. However, he didn't expect them to be so front about it. Zeref only closed his eyes as the orbs all zoomed in on his position, and felt his curse begin to act up and just before the orbs hit, it lashed out. The black wave of magic disintegrated all of the orbs, except one, which Ultear quickly retracted upon seeing his magic.

Zeref appeared unimpressed by the attack. "Please just leave, I have no quarrel with you or any of your guild and I would not enjoy any of you dying." Zeref stated with a somber undertone. The poor, misguided people on this island were attempting to gather him like some prize for some old legend that wasn't true. He was never asleep by those tablets, or keys, or whatever they thought they were.

Mortals really could come up with the strangest tales.

"I apologize Lord Zeref, but you need to come with us." Ultear declared fiercely as her crystal ball exploded into dozens again. This time with a strategy. " **Luminous Minutes!** " Ultear called out again, causing Zeref to sigh as his magic built up again to stop the attack.

However, what he didn't expect was for Ultear to only use half of her orbs in order to trigger his magic. After feeling the black wave leave him once more, Zeref was surprised with what felt like a punch to the gut, sending him stumbling backwards as more strikes hit him on the arms and faces as his magic flared again and obliterated all of the orbs.

Feeling his anger towards the purplette flow freely, Zeref was more angered by the fact that she kept tempting her own fate after being told not to, and not listening to directions from 'Lord Zeref'. Standing up straight, Zeref held out his hand and a ball of black energy began to collect. "If you will not listen to directions, then perhaps your life it not worth sparing." Zeref growled out as the black magic in his hands launched itself at Ultear, who leaped to the side in order to avoid the attack, causing the attack to miss, but tear straight through the rock faces behind Ultear as well.

The time mage quickly had to jump aside Zeref fired off another blast of energy at her, causing Ultear to hit the deck before calling out an attack of her own. " **Arc of Time: Infinite Sphere!** " And with those words, her one remaining sphere hurled itself at Zeref before he could notice and nailed him straight in the stomach, causing him to give off an audible _oof_ as the air left his lungs. After the direct impact, the orb split into two dozen more and assaulted the vulnerable Zeref from all sides, forcing him to his knees as one more hit him directly in his head, knocking the elder Dragneel unconscious.

Ultear let out a huff as she leaned on her knees for support. With his powers still sealed he wasn't supposed to be that powerful. But that only raised the question of how powerful was he going to be with his powerful unsealed?

Leaning down and hoisting Zeref over her shoulder a small memory popped up in her mind as she remembered just who's brother she had knocked out.

* * *

 _Ultear was breathing heavily, no, not because she was in the middle of an intense battle or was being chased by a giant monster. No that'd be absurd. The Time Mage was out of breath because she had just bounced up and down on a certain Natsu Dragneel for at least twenty minutes before she climaxed and, true to Natsu's small earlier comment, had yelled out rather loudly._

 _Letting out a sigh as she plopped down on her bed, let out a small smile as she felt Natsu's arms wrap around her and pull her in close, pressing her naked body to his. The dragon let out a small appreciative growl as he felt Ultear nuzzle into his chest, something that the purplette decided that she could get used to._

" _So." Natsu said after a while, never letting his grip on Ultear loosen. "How are you feeling about tomorrow?"_

 _Ultear only glanced up at the Apocalypse Flame dragon with a small look of excitement in her eyes. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious. After years of work, our work can finally come to fruition and we can achieve the Grand Magic World with Zeref's help." Ultear stated as her eyes never once left Natsu's. Well… maybe once to get a good look at his torso but that wasn't the point._

 _Said torso that Ultear had been admiring chuckled at her response as he shifted slightly, unknowingly messing up the covers and bunching himself and Ultear closer together than before. "I figured you might say something like that." Natsu stated as he stared at the black ceiling, before continuing quietly. "I will finally get to meet my brother… after all these years." The dragon trailed off, making Ultear smile slightly._

 _While she did have her doubts about Natsu and Zeref's sibling status, she still thought it was cute that he was still willing to crush anyone in his way in order to meet his brother. It was adorable._

 _Yet at the same time, there was a depressing undertone to it. He was finally meeting someone from his family in five years, twenty if you don't count Acnologia as his father._

" _Ultear." Natsu's voice came, breaking the time mage from her thoughts as her eyes focussed in on Natsu again. "Can you promise me something with my brother?"_

 _Said woman raised an eyebrow at that little question. Promise him something? More likely than not, no. But she may as well try. Even if she had to reject the man who was_ very _close to her right now._

 _Letting out a breath, Ultear spoke. "What would you like me to promise Natsu?"_

" _That even I don't find Zeref first, you'll let me talk to him before you or any of the Kin follow Hades' orders to bring him in. The crazy old pirate can get kinda violent."_

 _It threw Ultear for a loop. She had the option to disobey her guildmaster in order to let two brothers reunite simply because she enjoyed the feeling of the younger brother's manhood deep inside her, or she could decline, possibly ruin her little relationship, and 100% secure Zeref with little to no problems._

 _Going against her better judgement, Ultear gave Natsu a sultry smile as she looked up at him. "I promise you'll get first contact with Zeref, but only if you help me out with something right now." Ultear promised as she rolled back on top of Natsu, who's hands wrapped around her back as he gave a lustful grin right back at her._

" _I think I can help with that." Natsu said with a smirk as his hands slid down her back towards her ass, making Ultear shiver in anticipation.  
_

 _"Stop playing around and just fuck me."_

* * *

Ultear shook herself from her lustful memories as she looked at the unconscious, dark haired mage on her shoulders. She let out a sigh as she adjusted him on her back before beginning to head out. It was time to begin her own plan, even if it hurt some of those that she cared about in the process.

 _I'm sorry Natsu, but I have a task to finish. Maybe then, I can fix things with my mother._

And with that, Ultear disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Natsu gave the broken spirit at his feet little thought. He had seen the lion take down Caprico, cause someone named Zoldeo to dissolve and that was pretty much where he had tuned out. Apparently Zoldeo had been possessing the celestial spirit Capricorn in order to gain power, and since he was forced out he just up and died.

Fabulous.

Of course, taking out his current allies didn't sit well with Natsu so he crippled the spirit in a single strike in the back of the head, leaving Natsu to snort as he watched Leo dissolve into a golden light as he returned to the spirit world. Even if Zoldeo had struck him as a creepy little man-baby with dumb hair in the... seconds... that Natsu had known him didn't mean that Leo should get to kill him. Weren't there laws against that? Natsu felt like there were.

"Too easy." Natsu muttered as he turned to make sure that the rest of the kin had strayed from his brother like Ultear had promised. They technically didn't know he had met his brother and told him to leave yet.

However what hit Natsu was like a brick wall. He could smell the raw emotions flowing off of his brother a continent away. Wishfulness turning to confusion, then to exasperation, to anger and finally to shock and slight pain before it all stopped. Suddenly. Meaning one of two things, either Zeref had died (which was impossible) or he had been rendered unconscious.

Which also meant that it was possible a certain Time Mage had broken her promise

Taking another whiff of the scents on the island, Natsu also immediately knew exactly who was the one to stir up these emotions in his brother. His suspicions correct, Natsu spun towards her scent and began to storm towards the time mage. Growling at her lies, Natsu prepared to have a very... interesting talk with the lady who had lied to him. Technically. It most definitely did not involve him attacking her if she didn't hand over his brother.

 _Why am I not surprised that she didn't keep her word?_

With that thought in mind, Natsu's eyes gained a feral glint to them as he turned around and sprinted like a bat out of hell towards Ultear and Zeref, hoping to put a time mage in her place. As the dragon's speed increased, the tropical island of Tenrou morphed into nothing more than a blur of green around him. A trail of dust was left behind him as he jetted across the island at a lightning speed, even disturbing some wildlife as he raced across the island.

Growling as his target grew ever closer, Natsu was forced to an abrupt halt as a familiar blonde haired lunatic stepped out of the treeline and nearly collided with Natsu. The dragon was forced to dig his heels into the earth in order to prevent a crash and even still, he left two deep boroughs in the soft dirt as he skidded to a stop in front of the Godslayer, who cackled at Natsu's abrupt stop.

"What's got you in a hurry lizard, finally find that brother of yours?" Zancrow mocked as Natsu growled at him. He was in no mood to play games, and the Godslayer always played on his nerves. Especially now.

"Stand aside Zancrow, I have business to take care of." Natsu spoke, his voice a deep growl that made Zancrow raise an eyebrow challengingly. The very action almost made Natsu laugh. The little punk thought he could actually _touch_ him? Very much less challenge him.

"Is that so? I seem to recall your business here was helping us find Zeref, but you appear to have your own agenda." Zancrow remarked as Natsu narrowed his eyes at the blonde pyromaniac. The little git was starting to stand on his nerves, not something Natsu terribly appreciated.

And despite being league below his power, there was still something unnerving about the Godslayer. The mad glint in his eyes and willingness to reduce even his own comrades to ash was something that angered and disturbed Natsu. The dragon would have no problem striking the pyromaniac down if he stood in his way. This… thing was not his comrade. None of Grimoire was.

Clenching his fists to not react irrationally, Natus spoke again. "The business does concern Zeref, and you are standing in it's way. Leave Zancrow, before I make you." Natsu simply stated as he felt his nails dig in deeper into his palms. His newfound dragon instincts were screaming at him to attack and tear at Zancrow until his body would be unrecognizable by the pyro's closest friend.

The mad fire mage grinned with a savage look. "Oh? And if I _dare_ to stand in your way?"

"Then I shall strike you down where you stand."

A mad laugh escaped Zancrow's mouth. "Oh the dragon has some fight in him! Well let's just see who is more powerful then? The power of some old lizard, or that of _a God!_ " Zancrow exclaimed as he ignited his fists in black flames and threw a punch at Natsu, who gave the attack a bored glance.

Faster than Zancrow could comprehend, Natsu's left hand shot up, blocking the fist while his right swung around and nailed Zancrow in the temple. The Dark Mage yelled out in pain as he stumbled, only for Natsu to sweep his legs and kick him in the chest when Zancrow hit the ground.

Natsu snorted at Zancrow, who groaned loudly at the impact of the attacks. "Not even worth using my magic on. Get out of my way Zancrow, I'm out of your league." Natsu stated as he began to walk past the Fire Godslayer, who yelled in outrage as he shot up and lunged at Natsu.

" **Flame God's Scythe!** " Zancrow yelled as black flames formed and wrapped around his right hand, before eventually taking the form of a scythe. The blade was swung at Natsu, who didn't even look impressed as he dissolved into a blue mist right before the attack connected, leaving a slightly confused Zancrow. "Get over here and fight you gecko!" He yelled as he swung his scythe around in circles, downing trees left and right before he felt a rush of air being him.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist,** " calmly stated Natsu as his fist was blanketed by the familiar blue energy as it made contact with the back of Zancrow's head, sending the godslayer tumbling forward as Natsu calmly advanced towards his opponent as he swung his leg forward. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw** " And with that, the foot was swung into Zancrow's stomach, forcing all of the air from his lungs.

The Apocalypse Dragon gave him no mercy as he reached down and grabbed Zancrow by the throat. Hoisting him into the air, Natsu gave the pyro a dangerous look before winding up and slamming Zancrow into the ground, knocking him out cold. A small groan was the last sound that Zancrow made before his vision faded to black, with a emotionless Natsu standing over him.

"Now he knows his place in the world." Natsu muttered to himself as he took a whiff of the air again. He had momentarily lost his brother's scent in the sudden scuffle with the sociopathic godslayer. Letting the air fill his lungs, Natsu turned towards the scents of death and crystal. Zeref and Ultear respectively. The scent of death having a small amount of pain coming off of it and the crystal feeling very smug, for some reason.

Something didn't add up. Ultear had promised that she would leave Zeref to him and would notify him if she had found him. Well, his plan had obviously changed from finding his brother to keeping him safe from Grimoire Heart, but Ultear's plan should've have changed… Unless she had broken her promise.

Taking a turn southward, Natsu shot off like a rocket once more in order to make sure his brother was safe. Something he slightly doubted. Those idiots of a dark guild clearly never learned the lesson that was 'Never take anything from a dragon'. And Zeref was definitely something to Natsu, being his only living family and all. His infatuation with Ultear had gotten the better of him, and made him forget that she was still a dark mage.

Leaping through the trees and brush with speed that would make a cheetah jealous, Natsu's blood pumped with adrenaline as he began his chase for Ultear. She had lied to him, and now he had to make sure she was not a threat to his brother. He just had to get to her. If the blur of colors that passed him by were anything to go off of, he guessed that would be relatively soon.

The thrill of the hunt pumping through him, Natsu forced his legs to work faster and faster to reach the time mage quicker. Ultear would not get off the island with his brother. Pushing his legs to run faster and faster, the dragon leapt through the trees with unrivaled speed and continued to speed towards his target. Anyone in their right mind would get out of his way.

* * *

Ultear knew Natsu was coming before he arrived. A nagging feeling in the back of her head constantly told her that danger was coming, but she didn't know from where. All she knew was that something powerful was coming for her, and it was most likely pissed.

That was how the possibilities got narrowed down to Natsu. The dragon has explicitly stated that he wanted to be the first to attempt to bring in Zeref, and that no violence was to be used. Well… both of those had been broken. That probably would make Natsu considerably less happy when he saw Ultear holding his unconscious brother over her back.

Ultear did jump when Natsu burst out of the treeline like a bat out of hell. The former Dragonslayer landed hard from his jump and dug his heels into the ground, causing little rivets to appear as he slid past Ultear and skidded to a stop in front of her. Small amounts of the rich, caramel covered dirt flew up into the air as Natsu stopped himself in front of the time mage.

The look on the Dragonslayer's face was one of clear anger. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth curled into a frown. Natsu's entire body was tensed, like a panther ready to attack it's prey and every primal instinct in Ultear's body was telling her to run as far away as possible from this threat. Apparently he had found out that she had broken her promise.

"I would explain why my brother is unconscious and slung over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes before I bring you down." Natsu growled at Ultear, who actually took a step back at the threat. She had expected Natsu to be angry, not hostile.

That being said, Ultear did manage to recompose herself before speaking clearly. " _Your brother_ attacked me with barely a warning. What was I supposed to do? Let him kill me." Ultear snapped at Natsu, who let a feral growl that sent chills down Ultear's spine.

"You could have ran. Called for me and let me deal with him." Natsu stated as a small amount of anger began to leave his voice, causing Ultear to almost cry out with relief. If his anger wound down enough she could convince him that she committed no wrong. Besides possible assault and kidnapping but that is beside the point.

"If I had retreated, it might have been even longer for any of us to find him again." Ultear attempted to explain, causing Natsu to snort in defiance, clearly not believing her reasons.

"You would have reeked of him if you had gotten close enough. I could track him from there. Enough bullshit Ultear, what were you planning to do with my brother?"

Said Time Mage's eyes narrowed slightly at the accusation. He couldn't have found out could he? She had been so careful to hide her own plans for Zeref, she and Meredy had been absolutely silent about the idea ever since Natsu had boarded the airship. Did he just guess?

Deciding to wing it, against her better judgement, Ultear responded. "I was returning him to base so we may start the Grand Magic World." Ultear stated matter of factly, causing Natsu to roll his eyes at her lie. It was like she was barely trying.

"The Airship is that direction." Natsu stated, pointing in the direction from which she came. "Ishgar is that way." Natsu said as he pointed in the direction she had been heading. "So, care to inform me of this plan of yours?"

"My mistake, I must have messed up my directions. I have no ulterior motive here Natsu, now let me pass so I may return to the airship." Ultear smoothly replied as she turned around to pretend she was going to the airship. She would need to fool him on her way back and make away with Zeref. She was so far now, she couldn't fail. Natsu raised an eyebrow at her small slip up

"I never said anything about an ulterior motive. But now that you have, I'm gonna say this. Give me my brother Ultear, I will bring him back to the airship. You did promise me that I would be the first to speak to him after all." Natsu said with a warning in his tone. He slowly took a step towards Ultear, who frowned and debated taking a step back.

"That won't be necessary, I can bring Zeref back to the airship where he will await you. I don't need a babysitter." Ultear replied as she began to leave, only for Natsu to vanish in a cloud of blue mist and reappear in front of Ultear, causing the Arc of Time user to stop in her tracks.

"I'm afraid it wasn't a request Ultear. Hand over my brother and you can leave her unscathed. I'd hate to hurt your lovely face. However, if you don't give me my brother, I will knock you out and take him by force. You aren't telling the truth about something and I don't like where it's going." Natsu said evenly as he gestured for Ultear to give him his brother. Now, the time mage took a few steps backwards, which Natsu easily followed. The whole scene looked like a game of cat and mouse… or dragon and human.

Ultear actually took a step back at the statement, making Natsu roll his eyes. "Ultear, don't make this get ugly. I'd rather not fight you, but give me my brother. Don't break what you promised"

A frown marred Ultear's features. "That's a shame, because I'm not giving you your brother. You know what is weird though, you suddenly demanding Zeref from me is strange." Ultear defended, making Natsu narrow his eyes.

A heavy sigh made it's way out of Natsu's throat. "I didn't want it to come to this, but very well. You've forced my hand Ultear." Was all he said as he disappeared into a flash of blue, instantly making Ultear wary. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " She heard Natsu yell as Natsu's fist caught Ultear in the back, making her stumble forward due to the force of the attack.

She spun around to face a stoic Natsu who ignited his foot as he spun it around towards Ultear. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw!** " Natsu yelled as he threw his foot towards Ultear, who quickly reacted.

" **Arc of Time: Flash Forward!** " Ultear commanded at Natsu's foot, hoping to dissipate his magic. However to her surprise, the foot kept going forward, blazing with blue energy and all, before connecting with her stomach. The hit caused Ultear to groan and drop Zeref to the ground in pain as she was forced to her knees at Natsu appeared in front of her with a frown.

"Your little dissolving trick doesn't work on me." Natsu muttered as he picked up Zeref and set him next to a tree. "I'll speak to you soon brother." He muttered as he turned back to Ultear, who was angrily standing back up. "It would appear we aren't done yet. Don't want to throw in the towel Ultear?" Natsu asked as Ultear grunted as her orb shot out of her vambrace, making Natsu raise his eyebrow in amusement.

" **Arc of Time: Infinite Sphere!** " Ultear called out as he orb shot forward toward Natsu's stomach, who only sidestepped the ball and caught it mid air. He looked down at the orb with little interest and crushed it in his energy covered hand.

Ultear only raised her hands and caused another magic seal to appear. " **Arc of Time: Restore! Luminous Minutes!** " Ultear called out as the orb reformed in Natsu's hand and shot out of his grip, right into his jaw. The sudden attack caused Natsu to groan out in surprise and stumble backwards as the orb split into a dozen and relentlessly assaulted Natsu's body. The dragon growled in agitation as he felt the constant impact of the crystal balls on his hardened skin. It was more annoying than anything, but it was still a pain.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Roar!** " Natsu yelled out as he spun towards Ultear, and a blue torrent of energy launched from his mouth. The attack tore through several orbs, dissolving them and forced Ultear to hit the deck and slide to avoid being disintegrated. The roar attack barreled through several trees as well, causing to collapse before it finally fizzled out.

When the energy cleared, Natsu stood there with an annoyed look on his face, while Ultear was breathing slightly heavier than normal with scraps all over her arms from roughly diving into the dirt to avoid the attack. Her hair was already a mess, while Natsu looked barely scathed. His jaw was a little red from the surprise orb, but that was about it.

"This won't end well for you Ultear." Natsu said, his voice surprisingly soft for someone who had just tried to obliterate her. "Just give me my brother and wait for the rest of us on the airship. Or I will leave you unconscious." Natsu plainly stated. There were truly only two outcomes to this battle, one where Ultear was conscious, and one where she wasn't.

However, Ultear didn't become the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory by backing down from challenges. The purplette yelled in defiance as he swung her arm forward " **Arc of Time: Flash Forward!** " Ultear yelled as her orb split once again and the dozens of copies hurled themselves at Natsu, causing the dragon to snort. Why did they always choose the hard way?

Dissolving into a fine blue mist, Natsu easily evaded the onslaught of crystal balls sent his way and reappeared behind Ultear. The time mage whirled around, only to see Natsu with his mouth set in a frown as he cocked back his fist and covered it in blue.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu yelled as he threw his arm forward. However, instead of contacting Ultear's head like he had planned, the purplette dove out of the way, hitting the ground roughly as she rolled out of the way and stopped by the treeline. Ultear's breath was ragged and she sported bruises all over her body. Yup, definitely outclassed here.

Natsu only groaned at the effort of having to attack Ultear _again_ so he could finally free his brother from her. Then they could both get off this damned island. It was only going to get crazier when Fairy Tail started fighting back. Without Natsu putting them down as they went. That little variable didn't count.

"Hey, what's going on here?" A curious voice popped up, making both Natsu and Ultear snap their heads to the side, where a rather obese gray skinned man with greasy black hair stood, scratching his head in curiosity.

"Kain," Ultear breathed in relief. Now she had a distraction. She just had to put it into motion. "Our Apocalypse Dragon has betrayed our plan, he's trying to claim Zeref for himself!" Ultear shouted at Kain, who immediately bought the poorly thought out lie. Just what she needed, now she needed to get ready to run.

"He is? I knew he was good for nothin'!" Kain exclaimed as he turned to Natsu, who only stood there with a raised eyebrow. He had little care for Kain, and knew he could flatten him

almost instantly if he tried. Rolling his eyes at the weird man in front of him. Natsu only raised one hand as a seal appeared on his finger and underneath Kain's feet.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture** ," Natsu calmly called out as the ground beneath Kain detonated, throwing the member of the Seven Kin through several trees before he stopped and was laid out, almost unconscious. With several possible concussions as well, flying through trees tends to do that to you.

The member of the Seven Kin groaned and tried to sit up, making Natsu snort at as he calmly walked over to the downed dark mage and ignited his feet. " **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw,** " Natsu spoke as he swung his right leg around and made contact with Kain's left temple. Kicking the dark mage across the clearing like one would a football, Natsu let out a small chuckle as he saw Kain said in between two trees before disappearing into the forest. "Goal," Natsu

Chuckling at his own joke and at how easily Kain was dealt with before turning back to Ultear, only to find her missing. Snapping his head back and forth, Natsu quickly discovered that Ultear, in the brief amount of time Kain had bought her, booked it while Natsu's back was turned. Letting out a snarl of anger, Natsu's fist was quickly covered in blue as he swung it at the nearest tree and cleaved it clean in two with a single punch. Ultear had escaped… for now.

Letting the magic in his fist fizzle out, Natsu flexed his hand as he thought about his current situation. _It would appear that I no longer side with either alliance, if Ultear's lies will ring true. No matter, they'll all fall before me if they attempt to stop me._ Natsu mused as he took a deep whiff of air in order to start tracking Ultear. Turning on his heel, when he caught the scent, Natsu bounded back into the forest.

The hunt was back on.

* * *

 _Well god damn, it's been a while huh? Sorry about that, life's been a bit crazy lately. I won't bore you with the details but hopefully I'll be back to updating every week or two now._

 _Also, on the matter of the pairings, yes, I switched it back to Natsu x Ultear. The 'romance' between Erza and Natsu is practically non-existent in this story and the small bits that there are feel very forced (Lookin at you, end of Nirvana Arc). So yeah, we're going Natsu x Ultear. Sorry to the people who wanted Ultear and Erza, maybe another time._

 _With the little flashback with Natsu and Ultear, yeah I get that it's not the best. Also if anyone calls me a tease on it, I can write out a lemon if you really want to. I don't really care._

 _Speaking of another time, (I'm really on a rant here aren't I?) the first chapter of my new story is almost done, just finishing it up. It'll probably be up sometime next week, so keep an eye out. That's gonna be a blast. I'm rolling with the 'Natsu and Laxus are twins' idea and holy crap do I have a lot of ideas. I'll credit people for helping me out accordingly when it's posted, but yeah. That's coming soon.  
_

 _Oh yeah and holy crap we broke 100k. That's a new one._

 _Wow okay I think I'm done. I've talked for long enough. Thank's for reading and lemme know what you thought, and I'll see you guys later._

 _~Solo_


	15. Warpath of the Dragon

Ultear's breathing quickly intensified as she sprinted through the forest with an unconscious Zeref on her back. She knew that she had barely any time before Natsu caught up with her again and forced her into the ground. So she had to move her ass and get off the island as quick as possible.

Breaking through the foliage, Ultear ran as fast as she could with a man slung over her back towards the shore before something stopped her dead in her tracks. Her instincts kicking in, Ultear ducked and watched as three spears of ice sailed over her head and shattered against a tree behind her. Perfect. Gray Fullbuster.

"Just who are you?" Came the cool voice of Gray, who was covered in small scrapes but looked no worse for wear. Apparently his left wrist was still faintly pulsing with a pink light, even though the spell had faded. That was all Ultear needed to know that Meredy had fallen, to Natsu or one of the Fairy Tail mages she didn't know, but she suspected that it was to a Fairy Tail mage. He was too fond of the little girl on the airship. But then again… he had been rather fond of her.

Ultear turned to meet Gray and quite nearly just disintegrated the ground beneath his feet. Happy as she would be to kill him, she had bigger problems right now. However… she was currently unaware of Gray's full potential, could she help her defeat Natsu when he came for her?

Quickly making up her mind, Ultear set her plan into action. "Thank god." Ultear breathed heavily. "You aren't him."

That statement peaked Gray's interest. "I'm not who?" He asked coolly. "I bet I can be just as much of a nightmare for you." He stated boldly, clearly not amused with Ultear being on Tenrou Island at all, which was a plan that had fallen on it's side the second Natsu had been enlisted.

A small laugh escaped Ultear's throat at the very thought of Gray being as much of a problem as Natsu, but he would certainly be helpful; she would have to play it carefully. Otherwise she would be left alone to fight the (now even angrier) dragonslayer. That and she might also have to fight the apprentice of her mother as well.

"No, no you are no match for him. No one is. Not alone anyways." Ultear said as she caught her breath. "Hello Gray, I was wondering when I would find the apprentice of my mother." Ultear spoke with a knowing sparkle in her eyes, causing Gray to stumble back in surprise.

"Wha-wait what?! Apprentice of your mother?! Ur's only daughter died years before I studied under her!" Gray shouted out at Ultear, who only sighed at the proclamation. She was here wasn't she?

"My name is Ultear Milkovich." Ultear said as she adjusted Zeref on her shoulder. "The man on my shoulder is the Black Wizard himself, Zeref. My mission here is to forever prevent Grimoire Heart from abusing his powers." Ultear lied through her teeth to Gray, who stumbled back yet again at the information that Zeref was just a few feet away from him. Then another bombshell hit him.

"Wait, you're a part of the invaders then!" Gray yelled at Ultear, who sighed. No, she was a horribly lost pizza girl with a new quest in mind, yes she was a part of the invaders. Honestly, Ultear had believed that her mother's student would at least be a little smarter.

Sighing, Ultear responded. "Yes, technically I am one of the invaders. However, I do not stand with Grimoire Heart. The hound they have sent after me has made it clear I am no part of their guild anymore." Ultear lied through her teeth as she saw the story start to spark belief in Gray. Just a little more time before Natsu got here…

Gray opened his mouth to speak again, when Ultear heard the sound of a tree being blasted from the ground. Natsu was close. "No time to object, help me defeat him or we will both die!" Ultear yelled to Gray, who nodded reluctantly and readied an Ice Spell.

Natsu's arrival was announced with an explosion, uprooting trees and sending them flying towards the two mages, both of whom had to duck to avoid being flattened. The trees slammed into the ground and rose a small cloud of dust. Not very large, but enough to skew their vision.

However, when it cleared, Ultear saw pretty much what she had expected. A once again hooded Natsu, standing there impatiently with his arms crossed. The Dragonslayer was quickly running out of patience, if the anger leaking off of him in waves was anything to go by, and Ultear could only hope that Kain had dealt at least some damage to Natsu before being defeated. She hadn't exactly seen. She was too busy scooping up an unconscious dark wizard and hoofing it into a forest.

"This game is over Ultear. Hand over Zeref and I will have Hades lessen your punishment." Natsu growled at Ultear. He was understandably angry, meeting his brother, having his brother kidnapped and then having to fight for his brother all in one day would be frustrating to anyone. His gaze soon flickered over to Gray and he wasn't impressed. It was ice mage he had flattened from before he became a Dragon. His entire arsenal would be nothing but a joke now to Natsu. Both him and Ultear would be easy pickings, due the fact that Gray simply wasn't strong enough and Ultear was already worse for wear. Shaking his head, Natsu managed to delude just a little anger. "Ultear, you've been beaten, just hand over my brother before you get someone else before that loaf I just totalled injured as well."

Ultear managed to glare at Natsu with all the anger she had for him, which wasn't much after all. He was rightfully angry. She had broken her word and was still trying to make off with his brother, simply wasting his time further than necessary. Gently setting Zeref down once again, Ultear turned to face Natsu.

That was when Gray decided to open his mouth. And boy did that not go well.

"Listen buddy, I don't know who you are, but you aren't a match for both Ultear and I, just run back to your guild before we make this get ugly." Gray stated as his magic flared up around him, creating what could be an impressive aura, if Natsu wasn't a bloody dragon.

Said dragon barely gave Gray a once over before retorting. "Gray Fullbuster. Fairy Tail Mage, S-Class Candidate, uses Ice-Make Magic, just like his teacher. Can't keep his damn clothes on during a fight. No, you're right, this fight would be unfair. I'd flatten both of you, so just give me Zeref and we can go our separate ways." Natsu boredly stated as he rolled his shoulders and prepared to take out two mages now. Not that it would be a problem. He did always have his ace in the hole if something went wrong.

After all, what is ice to the Dragon of the Apocalypse?

Grinding his teeth together, Gray brought his hands back and officially started the fight. " **Ice Make: Lance!** " Gray yelled out as he threw his arms forward and seven lances made out of ice shot at Natsu, who boredly sidestepped each spear with little effort.

"You Fairy Tail mages never learn do you?" Natsu muttered to himself as he watched Gray bring his hands together for another attack. Because it would do so much.

" **Ice Make: Hammer!** " Gray shouted as a giant hammer of ice formed, causing Natsu to raise an eyebrow. Had he seen that one before? He didn't think so. Raising an arm to block as the hammer was brought down, Natsu was briefly surprised to hear Ultear yell her first attack of the battle.

" **Ice Make: Rosen Krone!** " Ultear called out as large roses of ice shot out from her hands and launched themselves at Natsu, who couldn't prepare himself in time and was struck by one of the flowers. The attack cause Natsu to give an audible _oof_ as the rose shattered against his chest, not even moving the Dragonslayer back an inch.

Natsu simply reacted by grabbing the hammer that Gray was still trying to flatten him with, and heaving the Ice Mage into Ultear, sending them both tumbling. Slightly in awe at his inhuman strength, Gray laid dazed on the ground as Ultear quickly righted herself. Natsu only rolled his eyes at the action. While it was always nice when they stood back up, it still didn't have to end with Natsu beating the tar out of both of them.

"Ultear, stop. Zeref will be in my custody no matter what you do. Just accept that you've lost so I don't have to knock you out. Or worse." Natsu warned Ultear, who disregarded the warning entirely, all to worried about how she was going to get off the island with Zeref and Meredy.

"You will not take Zeref!" Ultear angrily called, only causing Natsu to sigh as he dissolved into a fine blue mist, leaving Ultear on guard. The time mage wildly looked around her for her opponent who had just vanished. Only to gasp when she felt Natsu plant his foot in her stomach and send her rolling on the ground.

" **Ice Make: Battle Axe!** " Ultear heard Gray yell as he swung a large axe made of ice (what a twist huh?) at Natsu, who slid under the attack and ended up behind Gray. The pupil of Ur quickly swung his weapon around, only for Natsu to bring both his fist down on the battle axe, shattering it completely.

Not giving the ice mage a second to react, Natsu dissolved into a blue mist and prepared to finish off Gray for the time being. He had his brother to rescue after all, and some ice mage wasn't going to slow him down.

Hearing a loud thump behind her, Ultear spun like a top, only to see Natsu retract his fist from Gray's temple. The student of Ur was rendered unconscious by the action, and Natsu wasn't exactly pleased to have done so. Gray had wasted Natsu's time, and Natsu didn't particularly enjoy that.

"And there goes your help. Now it's your turn." Natsu stated as he turned towards Ultear. "I'm sorry, but you left me with no other choice. I would have prefered to let you go unscathed." And with those words Natsu disappeared in a flash of blue, right before Ultear felt a hard right hook make her vision go black.

Frowning as he watched Ultear crumble. Pulling down his hood, Natsu gently picked her up bridal style and rested her up against a tree, so she wouldn't wake up uncomfortable. He didn't give a damn about the other mage he had knocked out. He could wake up sore for all Natsu cared. Turning back to his brother, Natsu let a small, genuine smile make it's way onto his face as he saw his brother begin to stir. Being right next to a fight must have some effect on waking people up. Probably the yelling.

Zeref blearily opened his eyes and blinked back the urge to shut them as sunlight filtered in. He groaned as he sat up. Only to see his little brother standing there, with a few scrapes on his shirt but looking pretty much the same as before.

"Glad to see you're awake. Trouble must seem to follow you?" Natsu commented idly as he watched Zeref slowly stand up. The Black Wizard briefly surveyed the area and saw the unconscious Ultear lying on the tree and only raised an eyebrow when he saw her.

"The purple haired woman at the tree can hit rather hard if you are not expecting it." Zeref noted as Natsu snorted at the statement. Her time orbs could be a bitch couldn't they?

"Yeah Ultear can hit pretty hard if you aren't looking. But she still fell, just like that other guy over there." Natsu said with a gesture to the unconscious Gray. Zeref only nodded as a dull ringing still played on in his head, leaving him slightly confused. He shook it off as he continued to listen to his brother, who had just formulated a plan to get Zeref off of Tenrou.

"Alright, I'm gonna clear a path for you now. You just get off the island and I'll keep people at bay instead of trying to dissuade them from getting to you okay?" Natsu stated, making Zeref only nod once, the faint ringing making him simply agree since he was still too dazed to think properly.

"Then move Zeref, Grimoire and Fairy Tail are gonna be all over you like flies in just a few hours. But first, I have someone to clear out from near us." Natsu stated as his eyes travelled east to the large Tenrou Tree in the distance, his ears picking up the faint sound of a blade hitting wood. Someone was fighting, and he didn't need the victor coming after his brother. Taking a deep whiff of air to figure out just who was fighting, Natsu rolled his eyes when he found out who it was. That damned Erza Scarlet just didn't know when to stay down, and at this point Natsu was sure that Azuma was just toying with her. Natsu gestured for Zeref to move, an order the older brother followed.

As Zeref headed south to the coast, he let a small smile make it's way onto his face as he watched Natsu race off towards the Tenrou Tree. _How quaint. It used to be me always protecting you, whether it be from bullies or dragons. Now, it's the opposite._ Zeref thought with a chuckle, before he felt all of the other magical presences on the island. Not thinking straight, Zeref knew that Natsu couldn't take all of them on in order to secure his safety. He would need a little… backup.

And so, with his still slightly dazed mind, Zeref looked to the sky. "Acnologia, come destroy those who oppose your son." Zeref called aloud to the sky, and he felt a great magic awaken after five long years.

None would oppose what was to come.

* * *

Hiding just behind the treeline, Doranbolt was left in a cold sweat as he heard the words escape the Dark Wizard's mouth. Acnologia, destroyer of Continents, the Dragon King and Harbinger of the Apocalypse was being summoned to Tenrou Island. Right were most of the Council's navy was stationed. He needed to warn them.

Summoning up his magic, and ignoring the loud protests of his body, Doranbolt performed one last teleport and watched the world bend around him as he was thrown towards the council's ships, forcing him to land roughly on the deck of the main ship.

Groaning out as he forced himself off the rich oak floor, Doranbolt rolled over, only to see Lahar make his way over to his comrade. A concerned expression covering his face when he saw his friend covered in injuries and gasping for breath.

"Doranbolt, what on earth happened on that island? We've been seeing explosions for hours now and haven't received a single report. And why do you look like you just crawled out of hell?" Lahar shot at his partner as he reached his arm out to help him to his feet. Gasping for breath, Doranbolt struggled to figure out how to phrase just what had happened upon Tenrou Island.

"War," Doranbolt finally wheezed out, causing Lahar to raise an eyebrow. "Grimoire Heart and Fairy Tail have waged war on one another. I got caught in one of the fights." Doranbolt explained as he gestured to himself, explaining all his injuries. The other member of the council only frowned at the new information. It was a split choice here. If Fairy Tail emerged victorious, then the world would love them once again for taking down a massive dark guild, which would cause the Council a large headache. However if they lost, then they would be eradicated and removed from the Council's list of problems.

"Well, then we must wait for the victor and then engage. That would remove two threats from the Council." Lahar decided as he turned to give orders to his men, only for Doranbolt to grab his sleeve and yank him back around. The ponytailed captain almost fell over as he shot his friend an annoyed glare. "What Doranbolt, we have to get moving quickly if we want to apprehend the victor, guild warfare is prohibited." Lahar explained, only for Doranbolt to surprise him.

"No, none of must set foot on that island!" Doranbolt yelled, causing Lahar to take a step back in surprise. Doranbolt almost never yelled. Never. "The black wizard Zeref resides there and I heard him summon the Black Dragon Acnologia with my own ears!" Doranbolt cried out, causing Lahar to stumble. Acnologia? Zeref? Two of the most destructive and evil magic forces in all of history?

Leaning on the edge of the ship for a second to regain his balance, panic overriding his judgement, Lahar grabbed Doranbolt by the front of… well what remained of his jacket from his fight with Natsu and pulled him towards himself.

"Are you sure that he said Acnologia?" Lahar questioned, only for Doranbolt to meekly nod. That simple nod caused Lahar to drop his comrade and swivel around to his crew at lightning speed, ready for action. "Order all ships to retreat! Full speed away from Tenrou Island, in which direction is the fastest! If they are reluctant tell them they can stay and enjoy Dragonfire! Move out!" Lahar yelled at his crew as they all leapt into action at the very word 'Dragonfire'. In just a few seconds, what had been a somewhat lax crew was bustling about the ship at speeds unknown, all eager to get away from Tenrou Island.

"Wait!" Doranbolt yelled to his colleague, who looked back at him with nervous eyes. The very name of the Dragon of the Apocalypse could shake any man. They needed to move, and fast. "What about Fairy Tail? They are still technically a light guild and we can't just sacrifice them to that beast!" Doranbolt questioned, causing Lahar to snort at the very question.

"As far as the Council is concerned, we were never here. No one on that island is going to survive what is coming. We need to get out of here fast, Fairy Tail's safety is their own problem." Lahar responded as he made his way towards the helm to give directions.

Doranbolt let out a heavy sigh as he watched Lahar give orders to the helmsman, who nodded with far too much enthusiasm to get away from Tenrou and the boat lurched beneath his feet as it began to speed away from Tenrou Island. The Teleportation Mage of the Council could only watch sadly as Fairy Tail's Sacred ground grew smaller and smaller into the distance.

 _Fairy Tail… forgive me._

* * *

Erza's breath was heavy as she leaned against the great Tenrou Tree, with Azuma standing above her, unimpressed. After regaining consciousness, she had gone on the hunt for other members of Grimoire Heart in the hopes of giving Fairy Tail a one-up on their opponents. She had taken out a few smaller mages before arriving at the Great Tenrou Tree, where Azuma was waiting for her, and was itching for a fight.

So that is how she wound up where she was now, running low on magic, with a barely scathed Azuma standing above her, ready to end this match.

They fought in the Great Tenrou Tree, and up in the higher branches. They were surrounded by lush green branches that spiralled every which way. The dark brown oak of the tree made for sturdy battle platforms for Erza and Azuma. The little sunlight that filtered through was enough to see clearly, and made a rather beautiful setting after all. Even if the great tree was being used for a deathmatch.

"Even the great Erza Scarlet was no problem for me. A shame, I had high hopes for you Erza. However, I suppose I should finish this." Azuma blandly stated as he raised his arm and prepared to end Erza's life. Only that's not quite what happened.

Right as Azuma prepared to call out a spell, a torrent of blue tore upwards through the canopy and right coated Azuma, who didn't even have time to yell before he was immersed. The bright light blinded Erza, who had to blink quite a few times in order to clear the spots from her vision. However when her vision was cleared, she wasn't sure how to feel about what she saw.

For one, the hooded man was back, standing next to Azuma. He was clearly unamused as Azuma struggled to keep his footing on the branch, and Erza clearly saw why. The blue beam had torn a hole clean through Azuma's chest. The Tree mage stared down as his chest in disbelief before who Erza had thought would be his comrade walked up to him.

"I apologize Azuma, but this is the only way to ensure his safety." Was all he said as he gave Azuma a rough shove and sent the dark mage's body tumbling to the ground below, and as he fell, Erza heard him hit once the branches with a sickening _crack_. While there was what appeared to be sincerity in his voice over the death of his comrade, Erza had a feeling that it was fake. No one could sincerely apologize to someone after murdering them in cold blood.

The knight could only gawk in horror at the death Azuma was given. Sure he was a dark mage, but she firmly believed that next to no one actually deserved to die for their actions. Imprisonment, sure, solitary confinement, god nuts, but death was a permanent punishment. Something that could not be undone.

"One down, one to go." The hood muttered as he turned to Erza. "Erza Scarlet, we meet again." He stated blandly, causing Erza to bristle with anger. He showed little to no remorse for taking his guildmate's life. Where was his sense of comradery?

"You disgust me." Erza snarled at the hood, who appeared to raise an eyebrow. "He was a part of your guild, part of what should be your family, and you killed him! You are nothing but scum!" Erza yelled at the hooded Natsu, who only snorted at the accusation.

"Oh you know so little Scarlet. I was never a part of his guild, I am the hired help. That attack wasn't meant to kill him, but I put more power into it than I should have. Did you not hear my apology?" Natsu stated as he rolled his shoulders. Yes, he was sorry for killing Azuma, he had meant to disable him. However, if it ensured Zeref's safety, something that had already been jeopardized, then he would not feel remorse.

Erza growled Natsu as she felt her magic return to her body. Not all of it, but it would hopefully be enough. It was a fair amount after all. " **Requip: Giant's Armor!** " Erza called out as she was covered in a golden glow. When it died down, she was clad in a golden armor that buffed out her appearance and made her look stockier. She also had a large spear in one hand, ready to impale someone. What she was surprised to see was that Natsu hadn't moved an inch in the time it took her to requip. He had fought her earlier and knew what it was, why not attack?  
Seeing her confusion, Natsu let out an amused chuckle. "Didn't think you'd appreciate fighting in your birthday suit again, so I let you finish." He explained as Erza's cheeks flushed red. She was never going to be able to forget that. His timing in their last fight had been lucky and landed a hit right at the very second she was changing armors, leaving her bare.

"Shall we begin?" Natsu asked, only for Erza to leap at him with her spear. "I guess that's a yes." Natsu said as he sidestepped the leap and ducked as Erza jabbed at him with her spear. Bringing his arm up in an uppercut, blue energy covered his fist as he prepared to make impact.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist** " Natsu muttered to himself as he felt his ignited fist make impact with the bottom of Erza's chin, sending her tumbling back on the branch they now stood on. The hit made Erza flip backwards, where she luckily landed on her feet and nearly skidded off the branch, having to stab her spear into the wood to regain her stability on the tree.

Erza let out another battle cry as she charged Natsu, yet again, who only spun his fist at a deadly speed right into Erza's chest, shattering her breastplate and sending her backwards. While the Scarlet Knight was slightly dazed from the impact of the attack, she was far from out of the fight just yet.

Glowing gold as she switched armors once again, Erza clad herself in her remarkably revealing Flight Armor, which only made Natsu blink a couple times. It was basically a leopard print bra, black panties with a belt on them, and black leggings that held leopard print knee pads on them. Oh yeah, and she was wearing cat years as well.

"Okay, so I've heard that some people are into weird stuff, but in the middle of a fight, really?" Natsu asked, confused. The statement making Erza's face redden at what he implied. So what the Flight Armor was revealing? It worked didn't it?

Lunging at Natsu at rocket speeds, the dragon barely ducked under the first strike. He hadn't anticipated her gain that much of a speed boost. Ducking under another strike that would have decapitated him, Natsu vaguely wondered if she even remembered stabbing him in the stomach. Erza was apparently going in for the kill again, something she had been horrified with before.

Sidestepping as another slash nearly carved up his torso, Natsu grunted as she slammed the butt of one of her dual rapiers into his chest. Not even forcing the air from his lungs, but enough to make him grunt. In fact, it appeared to hurt Erza more than it did him, as she jumped back cursing as she held her injured hand.

Natsu gave her an amused look. "I'm pretty sure you broke a mace the last time you did that. Is the butt of your sword all that strong?" He jabbed as Erza leapt at him, bringing both of her rapiers down in a deadly arc. Natsu only took a step back and let her stab into the tree. While she was momentarily stuck, his foot lashed out and knocked her hands of the blades.

Stumbling backwards, Erza looked up to see Natsu pluck her blades out of the tree and toss them off the branch, rendering her armor useless. Not wasting a moment, Erza began to glow gold once again as she switched armors yet again to press the offensive. " **Requip: Blackwing Armor!** " Erza chanted as a thin black armor with wings protruding from the back covered her body, causing Natsu to sigh. There she was revealing a ton of skin again, she knew how armor worked right? He doubted it.

Erza shot at Natsu like a rocket, but still much slower than her Flight Armor. The decrease in speed was largely noticeable by Natsu, who now locked his eyes on her since he could turn his head fast enough to keep his gaze on her.

Ducking as she flew at his head, Natsu let Erza fly over him and whirled around. Readying himself as he saw Erza begin to charge him again, Natsu ignited his fist and took off towards Erza, meeting her charge halfway. Swinging his fist right as she swung her sword, Natsu's fist met her blade midway and shattered the blade, surprising Erza and leaving her open. Twisting before he was even fully behind her, Natsu slammed his foot into the back of Erza's chest, sending the Titania skidding on the branch, and nearly falling off.

"0 for 3 Titania, you might want to really go all out if you want to defeat me." Natsu stated as he watched Erza pick herself up from the branch and glare at him with a murderous intent.

"You wish for me to go all out… Very well." Erza replied as she was covered in a golden glow once again, and when it died out Erza appeared to be wearing what was actually armor this time. She donned a pink chestplate with armor extending down both arms. It stopped at a mid thigh skirt, but just beneath that Erza wore armored boots (still pink) that extended from her mid thigh all the way to her feet. Small white wings were placed about on the armor, and she wielded two deadly sharp blades. The very armor made Natsu grin. So she finally wasn't holding back.

"This is the Armadura Fairy, no opponent has ever surpassed it in power. Prepare yourself." Erza stated dangerously, to which Natsu chuckled in return. So she wouldn't hold back? Maybe he should let loose a little then. Might be fun.

"Oh I'm ready Erza, but the true question is… are you?" Natsu asked with a smirk, gaining a cautious look from Erza, before she immediately understood why. In an instant, Natsu released his full magical aura. Dark and powerful, it nearly forced Erza to her knees, even though she was in her Armadura Fairy. All it reminded her of was simply the end. That and the blank void that would follow.

Then like that it was gone, the choking pressure vanished and Erza felt herself able to stand again. She stumbled to her feet and looked fearfully at the hooded Natsu Dragneel, who could barely suppress his facespliting grin. He hadn't done that one before, and boy was it fun.

"Wh-what are you?" Erza gasped, making the grin for Natsu even harder to hold back. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure anymore. That and he didn't even care.

"What am I? The simple answer is stronger than you." Natsu answered as he slammed his left palm on top of his right fist and aimed his arms at Erza, who was still stunned by the pure power that Natsu had released. "It's been a pleasure Erza, but I have things to do. **Apocalypse Dragon's Cataclysmic Jaw** ," Natsu muttered, mostly to himself as a blue dragon head leapt from his arms and raced at Erza. The paralyzed Titania could only watch as the dragon descended on her, before she was blasted backwards, unable to even attack with what she had considered to be her very strongest armor. Was her opponent some sort of God?

 _My strongest armor, all of my strength, and I'm defeated before I can land a single, solid hit on him?! What is he?!_ Erza thought desperately as she sailed backwards through the air, before hitting the branch roughly.

Gasping as she made impact, Erza looked up to see the hooded Natsu casually strolling over to where she lay. Fearing her own death, Erza began to force herself up, only for Natsu to boot her in the chest and send her back down onto the branch.

"H-how are you so strong? I fought you with the strength of me and my comrades, how did you win so easily?" Erza asked, still gasping for air, eliciting a snort from Natsu.

"You lost before and you lost again, when will you learn? I am stronger than you Erza Scarlet. None of your 'power of friendship' is going to change that." Natsu stated blandly as he looked down at the heavily breathing Fairy Queen.

Turning on his heel, Natsu once again left the Fairy Queen disoriented and exhausted on Tenrou Island, before preparing to head back to where his brother was attempting to make his way off the island. Taking a whiff of the air once again to find his brother, Natsu growled as he caught scent of another obstacle in the way of getting Zeref off the island. One that belonged to an insane gravity mage who had an obsession with flying… great.

* * *

Cana knew that they were in trouble the second that Fairy Glitter failed. In all honest, who wouldn't know? Their one shot at getting rid of this crazy dude in front of them had failed. The man known as Bluenote Stinger was a monster, and their only hope of defeating him had left after he didn't fight anyone in the first round. Said something about his work here being done.

The brunette struggled to force herself up as she watched Bluenote slowly make his way over to her. Even his look radiated some sort of power. He donned a long white overcoat that hung loosely around his body, and had a very long, blue ponytail that reached all the way down to his legs that dangled around his back. Under his coat, Bluenote wore a blue and black robe that seemed to allow him to move easily. That and his dark black eyes seemed to dance with insanity and darkness, as opposed to his regularly tanned skin.

"One of the great Fairy Magics, Fairy Glitter. Yet it has forsaken you." Bluenoted as he continued his stride towards Cana, who was still desperately trying to get up and fight. "However, it seems as if I will have to extract it from your body if I want it for my own. You will likely not survive." The Deputy Commander of Grimoire Heart finished as he reached Cana and firmly grasped her arm, pulling the drunk off the cold, stony ground and holding her up to eye level.

From behind her, Cana could hear Lucy and Happy yelling out in protest, but to no avail. Bluenote had them pinned to the ground with his Gravity Magic, so they couldn't go anywhere, even if they tried.

As Cana was held to eye level with one of the most insane people she had ever met (and she came from Fairy Tail, so that's saying something) she glared at Bluenote with everything she had, before promptly spitting in his eye. The sudden action caught him off guard, causing him to drop Cana in surprise and curse as he rubbed the saliva out of his eyes. Growling with anger, Bluenote held out his hand and a magic circle appeared over Cana, who could only feel a sort of dread at what might come.

" **Fall!** " Bluenote yelled, activating his gravity magic. Instantly, Cana felt all the pressure on her body multiply by a thousand times, causing her to scream out in pain. She felt like she was being run over by a steamroller, being slowly crushed into paste.

With spots dancing before her eyes, Cana only barely registered that another person entered the area until she heard him speak.

"Isn't that a bit much Bluenote, all she did was spit in your eye." Came the new voice, full of sarcasm and annoyance, before Cana felt the unbearable pressure on her chest lighten, allowing air to rush into her lungs. Blinking back the spots, Cana saw what appeared to be a man cloaked in a hood and armor, with blue tattoos dancing up and down his arms. He was standing next to Bluenote and was apparently giving the insane Gravity User some sort of look. Whatever look it was, Cana couldn't tell.

"Why are you here beast?" Bluenote demanded, causing a twitch of anger from the hooded man. Apparently calling him a beast was offensive, good to know.

"I was looking for Zeref, and then I heard people screaming and it was messing up my senses. Care to inform me what the hell you're doing here?" The hood answered, gaining an annoyed look from Bluenote. Something about the statement had ticked him off.

"We have been here for hours, and you still have yet to find Lord Zeref?" Bluenote asked dangerously, gaining an nonchalant shrug from the hooded man.

"Would've found him within an hour if Hades hadn't sent all of you onto this island. You guys are causing so much chaos I can barely find anything without bumping into one of you," responded the Hood, causing Bluenote's annoyance to build.

"So you find us nothing but a burden? I should strike you down where you stand." Bluenote growled, making the hood shrug, unintimidated by the threat in the slightest.

"I was thinking something similar, would make my job easier." He responded, gaining a roar of anger from Bluenote who shot out his hand once more, aiming at the hood.

" **Fall!** " Bluenote commanded, causing the hooded man to be forced into the ground. There was enough force to crack the ground beneath his feet, but by what must have been a miracle, the man stayed standing.

"What the hell?!" Lucy cried out, watching the fight in action. That one attack had floored all three of them, and he just tanked it like it was nothing.

Turning his head slightly, the hooded man finally took note of the Fairy Tail mages, with his gaze freezing on Happy for just a tad longer than anyone else before he spoke. "Members of Fairy Tail, I will deal with you shortly. I have a feeling I'll be more civilized than Bluenote about it as well." He said bluntly, his disinterest for Bluenote showing.

"Die you damned gecko!" Bluenote roared as he thrusted his arms forward, pushing a wave of energy at the hooded man, who was forced backwards by it and was slammed into a rock face, leaving a sizable indent. All of the Fairy Tail mages watching flinched, that had to have hurt.

Collecting himself from the rocks, the hooded man frowned at Bluenote. "I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling me a gecko. Dragons deserve a bit more than that after all." He stated as his hands began to glow a deep, imperial purple.

Beneath his hood though, Natsu Dragneel knew he was slightly out of his league. Bluenote was a monster by every definition, and could most likely beat him in his human form. Using the Apocalypse Flame mode, he could overpower him and win, but Natsu was unsure just how much it would drain him. He could shift into his dragon form, and blow his entire cover, so that was unfavorable. Perhaps a fistfight was the best way after all.

Allowing the purple fire to consume his fists, Natsu leapt at Bluenote, surprising the Gravity Mage, who hastily threw another wave of magic at Natsu, hoping to knock him back once again. However, Natsu twisted out of the way and landed right in front of Bluenote, and cocked back his arm.

" **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Devastating Fist!** " Natsu called out as he brought his arm forward and slugged Bluenote right across the right cheek, sending the Gravity mage back a couple steps. Not giving him time to react, Natsu lit his feet and swung his left foot at Bluenote's chest. A loud thud was heard as the foot made impact, and sent Bluenote stumbling back even further as Natsu continued on his assault.

Grunting as Natsu kept pushing him back, Bluenote finally gained some space between the two and threw his arm out, forcing Natsu backwards. The Dragon dug his heels into the ground as Bluenote pushed him backwards, effectively slowing him down and creating rivets in the ground from where dug in.

However, both parties seemed to have forgotten about the Fairy Tail mages, who could only watch in shock as the hooded Natsu went toe to toe with Bluenote, the guy who had flattened them all before.

"Hey Happy," Cana asked, gaining the blue feline's attention. "Didn't that guy who sparred with Gildarts a few months back use that type of magic, Apocalypse Flame or whatever it is?" Cana asked, curious as to know whether it was indeed the same guy.

Happy shook his head at the question. "No, Natsu uses Apocalypse Dragon Slayer Magic, and his hands glow with blue energy, not purple flames. Also, Natsu liked us, he wouldn't be part of Grimoire Heart!" Happy declared, completely unaware that Natsu had heard him.

Momentarily distracted by the cat's sudden faith in him, even after he had attacked those in the company of Happy earlier, Natsu was caught off guard by Bluenote's next attack. A push of gravity that sent him tumbling into the same rock face once again. Grunting as he pulled himself out of the rock, Natsu growled as the flames in his hands spiked.

Trying out a new move in combat for the first time, Natsu crossed his arms before throwing them outwards towards Bluenote. " **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Darkest Dagger!** " Natsu yelled as sharpened, flaming points shot from his hands and raced towards Bluenote, who barely had time to react before the attack slammed into his chest and knocked him off of his feet.

Cursing as he rolled back onto his feet, Bluenote was greeted with the sight of an angered Natsu, who stood in front of him with his fists ignited, ready to deliver a haymaker, before a calm voice interrupted them.

"Jeez, am I really that late to the party?" Came the calm voice of an opponent Natsu had vowed to never forget. Turning to see the voice, Natsu was greeted with the sight of a calm Gildarts Clive, who still looked ready to put both of them six feet under. The crash mages arms were crossed like a parent scolding a child, something that irked Natsu. "It's a shame you guys started without me." Gildarts said with a crooked grin, making Natsu snort on the outside.

However on the inside, his mind was reeling. Bluenote he would have eventually gotten down, but Gildarts as well? He just didn't win that matchup. That victory went to Gildarts at least 9 times out of 10, the other 1 maybe going to Natsu. Not the odds that he liked.

"I was wondering if the hermit was on this island." Natsu commented as he looked Gildarts up and down. The crash mage looked rather similar to the last time they met, only with a few more holes in his cloak.

"It matters not to me, you both will fall!" Bluenote yelled, as he shot two waves of Gravity at what he declared as both of his opponents, with Natsu simply sidestepping his and Gildarts raising his hand. His hand glowed white for a second, before dissolving Bluenote's wave, gaining the full interest of the dark mage.

Seeing that he now had a way out, Natsu smirked before he made his final comment. "I'll let you two ladies finish this fight here. I have a god to slay." Natsu said with a smirk as he turned and leapt into the forest, catching Gildarts' eye, only for Bluenote to try to attack him.

While some may call Natsu cowardly for running from the fight, Gildarts saw it as a tactical move. Whoever was under that hood knew he couldn't beat both Gildarts and Bluenote at the same time so he made the smart choice to make a retreat, then live to fight another day. Gildarts suppressed a grin. At least someone here didn't need his fear lesson.

* * *

A few hundred miles north from Tenrou Island, a great magic awoke. Opening it's pure white eyes for one of the few times in about five years, the black dragon let out an earthshaking roar as it awoke from it's slumber.

Shaking off all the foliage and rocks that had covered him during his slumber, the black dragon, with now revealed blue markings let out another roar as it flapped it's wings once and rocketed into the sky. It felt so good to finally stretch it's muscles after so long! That one mage about a year before wasn't even of any challenge!

Releasing a proud roar into the sky, a torrent of blue energy shot into the air where it exploded into a massive sphere of energy, obliterating any clouds and birds in the area.

 _So, I am called to Tenrou Island?_ The dragon thought as it turned south and began to fly towards it's destination. _Then I suppose it is time the world remembered that I am not some myth. I am the Black Dragon, the Apocalypse, Acnologia!_ The dragon shouted inside it's mind as his senses began to work at their full capacity once again.

Taking a deep whiff of the sky, the Black Dragon almost stumbled in it's wingbeats as it recognized a familiar scent in the direction of Tenrou Island.

" **Natsu?** " Acnologia rumbled to himself as he continued on his way. " **It has been some time, has it not. Let us see if you are ready to avenge that** _ **treacherous**_ **fire dragon!** " Acnologia roared as he shot towards Tenrou Island as breakneck speeds.

* * *

 _So yeah, there's chapter 15. Fun to write, hopefully fun to read._

 _On a small side not, for anyone who cares. Yeah, there's been a delay in the new story. I took a different approach at the first chapter, and while I like it way more, it's a lot harder to write. So it might be a bit until we have the Natsu and Laxus are twins story._

 _I think that's about it, lemme know what you thought and I'll see you guys next time._

 _~Solo_


	16. When Gods Quarrel

Natsu sighed out in relief as his back hit a tree, letting rest from his hasty retreat. Now the dragon prince was a lot of things, but an idiot was not one of them. Also being flattened and/or blowing his cover was not really high on his list of 'things I want to do with my life' either.

So now, sitting in the shade and catching his breath, Natsu reflected on the events of his fight. Bluenote and Gildarts were likely still going at it, with the Crash Mage more than likely having the upper hand.

Natsu let out a grunt as he spat on the ground, frustration clear in his body language. The damned Crash Mage had left the island, he had smelt him do so. So when on this damned earth did he come back? Was his nose so stuffed up with all the dark mages crawling all over the island that he missed a scent as monstrous as Gildarts'? Another strike on Hades' growling list of annoyances: Disobeying established orders, lying, messing with his nose and generally being a pain in the ass.

Natsu flinched slightly as he tried to hard to push off the tree with his left arm. Looking down at the limb, Natsu noted that he had a sizable cut running down his arm, more than likely from flying into the rockface after the force of Bluenote's gravity hit him, bastard. Nothing too serious, but it's be a bit of a pain for a few hours if he made contact with hit.

Shaking any angry thoughts about the island from his head, Natsu now carefully pushed himself off the tree and was surprised to find a lack of fatigue, sure he was a little tired but the Apocalypse Flame mode hadn't burnt though his magic like it did when he fought the Black Sky. Maybe the dragonification had also made his dual element mode less taxing on his body?

Whatever it was, Natsu would figure it out later, for now, he still needed to take a breather. Taking several deep breaths, Natsu almost groaned out loud as he caught wind of two familiar scents dangerously close to each other. This entire damned day had been protect Zeref from harm so he could learn more about his brother and past. So why on earth was his brother now on _Grimoire Heart's Airship!?_ Natsu's patience was just about at it's end and he needed to punch something. _Hard_. Luckily for him there was a one-eyed old man on that damned airship that could use a fist right to his face.

See? Some things just work out like that.

* * *

The Black Wizard Zeref's mind was still slightly fuzzy as he strolled through the halls of the airship he had boarded. The halls were dark and unpractical. Why weren't there more lights? He could barely see where he was going. Whether it was for some sort of intimidation factor or if they simply couldn't afford better lights (which was unlikely) Zeref didn't care.

He had a mistake to fix before it would come to pass. Acnologia was approaching, with the purpose of destroying Tenrou Island, but Zeref knew that the Dragon of the Apocalypse would have something else on his agenda before that order was fulfilled. That something was named Natsu Dragneel.

Tossing thoughts of Acnologia out of his mind, Zeref continued on his task through the halls of the airship. Hades would need to pay, for several accounts. The first being the number of people who suffered just so he could obtain those ridiculous keys of his. The second being his very own assault by that Ultear woman. So the black mage wasn't exactly a happy camper at the moment. And the source of his anger needed to be… removed from this world, so to speak.

Feeling his magic build up angrily in his hands, Zeref took several deep breaths in the attempt to get it to simmer down. Apparently, this time they did hear his prayer and let the black magic die back down into his system. It would be unleashed when Precht Gaelbolg's would come to an end. Until then, it would need to say calm.

As Zeref turned another dimly lit corner, he felt a familiar presence flare up on the island. That of his brother's. Natsu's aura was filled with anger, frustration and annoyance, all mainly directed at two main points, Zeref himself and Hades. Now towards himself Zeref could understand. Natsu had told him specifically to get off the island, and now he was on the enemy's airship. But he had work to do, and then Zeref took note of his anger towards Hades.

Apparently the old man hadn't just made Zeref angry, here came Natsu calling for his blood. A match-up that Zeref was both anxious about and interested to see.

 _Yes, the Demon of the Apocalypse against the God of the Dead, I suppose we will see who is stronger. If Natsu cannot defeat Hades, then he is far from being ready to kill me. A suitable challenge indeed._ Zeref pondered as he disappeared into the dark red halls of the interior of Grimoire Heart's airship. Waiting for the moment in which he would be needed. Little did he know that would be far sooner than he expected.

And with a roar of thunder, he was gone.

* * *

Hades scoffed as he looked down on the fallen members of Fairy Tail at his feet. He truly had expected more of the third generation of Fairy Tail. He expected them to have posed _some_ sort of challenge, but they all fell like flies before him.

The second master of Fairy Tail let out a snort as he watched the respective mages try to pull themselves to their feet. The Ice Wizard seemed determined to get up, so Hades couldn't help but chuckle when his arms gave out from underneath him. Apparently his arms weren't as strong as his spirit. No matter, that could be broken too, it just took a little longer.

"I expected more from Makarov's brood." Hades announced as he looked over the fallen mages, each one turning to face him through the wreckage of the Grimoire Heart walls that had once stood where the battlefield had taken place. Blowing the walls open was really unnecessary, the door was unlocked.

"But no matter, the time has come for me to end your nuisance, once and for all." Hades declared as he thrust out his arms. With both hands taking the form of a gun, purple energy began to swirl around his pointer and middle fingers. However, instead of quickly releasing, Hades simply let it charge, the attack gaining power until it was nearly blinding to the Fairy Tail mages.

"Be gone!" Hades shouted as he released the spell. The bullets leapt from his fingers towards the downed Fairies, who could only stare in horror as the second deadly attack zoomed in on Wendy, causing her big brown eyes to widen as her apparent death zoomed in on her. The small girl closed her eyes tight and prepared for the attack to end her life.

But it never got the chance.

From the ceiling, right before the bullet hit, a monstrous bolt of lightning raced down from the sky and slammed into the deck, splintering the wood and completely destroying Hades' attack, while also blinding everyone in the immediate area and deafening them with the draconic roar of thunder that followed.

All of the Fairy Tail mages cried out in surprise as two of their senses were temporarily removed, with Hades stumbling back in surprise of the lightning strike. However, no matter what happened to anyone in the area, the lightning bolt did indeed save Wendy's life, and it was an experience she wouldn't forget. When everyone's vision returned, they all saw someone they never expected to see come to their aid in a hundred years.

Laxus Dreyar stood in front of Hades with an unimpressed look on his face. He donned a white cloak over his black shirt and beige pants. The Son of Dreyar also had a dangerous look in his blue eyes, one that promised pain to whoever got in his way. And it just so happened that Hades stood in Laxus' way. Convenient.

"You know, when I came to see the First's grave, I wasn't expecting to find the Second as well." Laxus spoke, his voice resonating all throughout the room. The statement caused Hades to frown at the boy's tone, with him looking shockingly familiar, but he just couldn't place it.

"While I'm here, I might just dig you a grave as well." Laxus growled as lightning danced

around his body, making Hades' eyes widen in realization.

"Ah, Laxus Dreyar, Makarov's grandson. Weren't you excommunicated from the guild for staging a coup?" Hades mocked, making Laxus narrow his eyes, the Fairies behind them forgotten by both men who stood face to face.

"Whether I bear the mark or not, I have family that resides within the Fairy Tail guild, family that you've injured with your little assault on Tenrou Island. So, are we going to stand here all day, or are we going to fight?" Laxus retorted.

Hades chuckled at the blonde man in front of him, while he had a sharp tongue, Hades didn't believe that he had the force to back up his words. Laxus would fall, just like the rest of his old guild. "Very well then boy, you may have the first strike." Hades taunted, causing Laxus to narrow his eyes, before a dangerous grin appeared on his face.

In an instant, Laxus was gone in a flash of lightning before Hades felt a food connect to the back of his head, sending him tumbling forward. The older mage grunted before Laxus sped around him and delivered a haymaker to the side of his neck, sending Hades stumbling sideways. As he stumbled, Laxus shot to his left and brought his arms up above his head.

" **Lightning Hammer!** " Laxus called out as he brought his arms down on top of Hades' head, blasting the Grimoire Heart master to the floor.

Hades hit the ground with an audible grunt, but rolled out of the way before Laxus could get another strike in. The aging master quickly righted himself and dodged Laxus next strike, while promptly launching a chain from his arm and catching Laxus' left arm. When the chain attached, Hades heaved Laxus over his shoulder and sent him flying towards the floor, only for Laxus to rocket away in a stream of Lightning.

However this time, Hades took careful aim with his finger gun, and released a shot that nailed Laxus dead in the thigh, causing Laxus to yell out as he spiralled out of control and hit the ground hard. Quick to recover, Laxus was back on his feet in an instant and threw a lightning bolt at Hades, who blasted it out of the air with little effort, however it created a large plume of smoke, which was exactly what Laxus needed.

The Grandson of Makarov launched himself at lightning speeds through the smoke, right into Hades. The sudden strike caught Hades momentarily unprepared, and sent him backwards, his heels digging into the floor to stop his movement.

"Good, very good! I expected nothing less from Makarov's grandson!" Hades called out with a laugh as he launched a chain from his hand, which Laxus quickly evaded before targeting Hades once again and flying into him full force. Hades got his arms up just in time to meet Laxus in a deadlock, with both of their magical powers pushing back against one another, with Hades slowly overwhelming Laxus.

With a heave, Hades shoved Laxus off of him, before twirling around and blasting Laxus right in the chest, sending the blonde sprawling backwards. Hades laughed as he continued to unload into Laxus, pushing him further and further backwards, until Laxus was finally forced to his knees and was breathing heavily.

"All of you have no one other than Makarov to blame for your deaths here today, after all, he changed the guild far too much." Hades announced as his boot connected with Laxus' chin, gaining a yell of pain from the Lightning Mage before he was sent flying backwards, landing on his back.

"You gave me a good fight _boy_ , but you are still that, a boy. You are all leagues below me, and I think it's time you learned that." Hades called out. As soon as he finished his statement, Hades threw up his arms and purple lines began to form around Laxus, who realized with a start just what spell was going to be used.

"That's an Amaterasu Formation!" The downed Erza Scarlet called out in horror at the spell. "Don't do it, you'll kill him!" Erza cried out, making Hades chuckled at her outburst.

"Examples need to be made Miss Scarlet, maybe after he's died you'll recognize that you're beneath me." Hades said with a laugh as he looked down to Laxus, and was met with an action he didn't expect. The Master of Grimoire Heart had expected to see Laxus desperately trying to pick himself up, or to beg Hades to not to kill him. However, what he saw made Hades respect the boy in front of him.

Laxus was staring Hades dead in the eye, with no fear in his eyes. "If you kill me, you'll only invoke the wrath of every Fairy there is. So do it old man, kill someone from the guild you used to run. Brand yourself as a traitor for all of time" Laxus taunted with a dark grin, which made Hades growl slightly. He respected the boy's lack of fear, but the taunt wasn't necessary.

"Very well then brat, I'll send you off to _hell_ " Hades sneered as he brought his hands together and the purple lines around Laxus began to pulse. " **Amaterasu Formula 100** " Hades called out as the lines around Laxus merged into one large cocoon, much to Fairy Tail's horror, but not to that of one blonde mage.

 _So this is how I die, funny, I thought I'd at least take someone down with me_. Laxus thought with a bitter chuckle as he closed his eyes and waited for the pain.

It never came.

In an instant, with a flash of blue, the Amaterasu Formula shattered like glass around Laxus, whose eyes shot open at the noise. The spell was _broken?!_ That shouldn't be possible!

Hades apparently had a similar reaction, but with more looking wildly to see who had broken one of his most powerful spells. It was not a small feat to destroy a Amaterasu, and if Gildarts had indeed arrived like he had feared, then he might actually be in for a fight. Then he heard the footsteps behind him and found someone far worse.

Turning around to face his new Challenger, Hades was instantly met with a blue energy covered fist straight to the face, which sent the old man tumbling backwards into the rubble, temporarily removed from action.

With his hood down, revealing his face to all of the Fairies present, Natsu Dragneel let out a scoff as he watched Hades go flying. The old man was supposed to be tough, not some ragdoll.

However the Fairies reaction was rather comical to his arrival. Erza's mouth dropped open as she realized that she _had_ fought Natsu twice like she originally thought. Gray flinched, remembering how he and Ultear had been utterly flattened by him. Lucy, Cana and Happy all stood by in silent horror, remembering that this was the guy who went toe to toe with Bluenote and was more pissed off than injured by the time Gildarts' arrived.

And then there was Wendy. She wasn't sure whether to be happy or horrified that Natsu was here. On one hand, she was happy to see that he was alive and well… well slightly angry but that's besides the point. On the other hand she was horrified to see that he had worked with another dark guild, after willingingly (somewhat) working with them to destroy the Oración Seis.

"You know Hades, I've just about had it up to _here_ with your damned Guild!" Natsu yelled into the rubble as he walked over to where the downed Laxus was, and stuck out his hand. The youngest Dreyar gave him a distrusting look for a second before accepting the hand and being hoisted to his feet.

Laxus took a few deep breaths and cracked his neck before letting his magic flow freely through his body once again. He got a second chance, and he sure as hell wasn't going to hold anything back like he did before. Hades needed him to go all out if he wanted to win.

"Now even the _dragon_ turns against me." Hades snarled as he walked out of the rubble, relatively unscathed. The small exception being a small cut where Natsu's fist had made impact on the side of his face, with a small trail of blood leaking out.

"No one here will leave this place alive, I have the power of _Zeref_ on my side! None of you can stop me." Hades called out as his magic exploded out around him in a suffocation aura, making all of Hades's opponents (bar Natsu and Laxus) struggle to breath. It was a magic so dark and vile that it made them shiver to their cores. And yet despite the statement and bold display of magic, Natsu let a feral grin slip onto his face. Oh he would really get to cut loose now. It was gonna be fun.

"You know, being from 400 years ago when Earthland was a far more chaotic place, Acnologia lived by a couple pretty simple philosophies. One of which definitely applies to you _Precht_." Natsu commented, his tone taking a sharp edge at the end to Hades, who narrowed his eyes. How did the brat know his names?

"The scaly bastard loved the phrase _If you can make a god bleed, then people will cease to believe in him_." Natsu said with a rapidly darkening grin. " _And there will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come_. So, tell me Hades. Do you bleed?" Natsu quoted with a sadistic grin. "Let's find out" And with that, Natsu attacked.

In a blur of blue, Natsu was upon Hades like a lightning bolt. A fist was instantly launched into the Guild Master's stomach, who gasped as the air left his lungs and stumbled backwards.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Claw** " Natsu called out as he spun around and buried his foot in Hades' stomach, sending the Grimoire Master backwards. Hades growled as he righted himself and prepared to counter attack.

However that plan went right out the window when Natsu Dragneel launched himself at Hades once again, his entire body alight with blue energy. In a flash, Natsu was in front of him again, the same smirk on his face as his fists ignited with the apocalyptic energy as he drew back a fist.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Chaotic Fist!** " Natsu yelled as he brought a haymaker forward, which Hades hastily blocked, only to be caught in the side of the head with the other fist, right into the temple. Hades growled as he righted himself and in a flash, threw a chain that locked around Natsu's wrist. With a flick of his wrist, Natsu was sent flying across the room, and made a large dent in the wall in his landing.

"Insignificant little lizard. You dare strike me?! The master of Grimoire Heart? _Your_ employer!" Hades yelled as he began to charge up a large shot in his fingers, aiming at the Dragon who was picking himself up from the large hole in the wall.

However, before the spell could be released, another party decided to rejoin the battle.

" **Lightning Dragon's Heavenly Halberd!** " Laxus shouted as he raised his arms to the air and let a large spear of pure lightning form between them. As Hades turned around to defend himself, Laxus let the attack fly. It reached Hades at the speed of… well lightning and blasted Hades a few feet backward, leaving the front of his armor slightly charred _and_ charged. The Grimoire Master flinched as he felt the electricity dance across the few metal plates his armor had, numbing his left arm momentarily.

Raising his right arm to fire at Laxus, Hades was caught off guard as he saw a bright blue magic circle appear beneath his feet. His head snapping to where the previous downed (and professional wall redecorator) dragonslayer had been, Hades saw Natsu standing upright with a now neutral expression on his face. The dragon was holding his arm out directly to the area below Hades' feet, and Hades could feel the magic dancing off his arms.

" **Apocalypse Dragon's Rapture** " Natsu called out, causing the ground beneath Hades' feet to detonate violently, effectively sending Hades backwards, where he was instantly met with a large lightning bolt from Laxus. With two targets who were powerful enough to stand against Hades for some time on their own, it would appear that the master of Grimoire Heart had finally found a good challenge.

In a flash, Natsu was right new to Laxus with a small grin on his face, gaining an odd look from Laxus. "What's the damn smirk for?" The Lightning mage asked, causing said grin to grow.

"You're a dragonslayer too right? 2nd Generation? That means you can also pull off a roar." Natsu explained, to which Laxus quickly caught on. Oh this'll be good.

"So now there are two geckos." Hades remarked as he walked out of the rubble he had been thrown into by the **Rapture** attack. The damage done was little, but it was still definitely there. Small cuts and burns now covered Hades' arms and face, making the pseudo-God of the Dead look like he'd just been through a war.

"It matters not, fall before me! **Amaterasu Formula 100!** " Hades yelled as the purple lines began to wind around Natsu and Laxus, the former simply giving the latter a grin as he took a deep breath and the Lightning mage followed in suit.

The entire ship seemed to gain weight as Natsu's magic power spiked, with the blue energy that twirled around his body shifted into a royal imperial flame that roared with power and destruction, simply begging to be released, shocking everyone on board. Except Laxus' he was a bit busy at the moment and decided to roll with it.

Hades momentarily paused out of sheer curiosity, and it would prove to be a very bad mistake. Cocking their heads back, a dark purple magic circle appeared over Natsu's mouth and a golden circle appeared over Laxus'.

" **Flame Apocalypse Dragon's…** "

" **Lightning Dragon's…** "

" **Roar!** " Both Natsu and Laxus yelled at the same time, causing a tornado of purple flames to leap from Natsu's mouth. Alongside him, a massive bolt raged forth from Laxus' maw and raced towards the shocked Hades. He didn't even have time to react. The attacks slammed into him and forced the entire Airship to rumble with the force of the explosion.

Natsu only gave a grin as he felt the ground shake beneath his feet. That had to have packed a punch on the old bastard. If not flattened him completely. However that hope was only partially fulfilled.

As the smoke and debris began to clear, Hades was indeed injured, but he wasn't down. Not yet. The small cuts and burns that had covered his body had now all enlarged, leaving the undersides of his arms covered in gashes that leaked small amounts of blood. A similar fate occurred upon Hades' face, only this time there was a large, new wound that left Hades _dangerously_ close to needing a second eyepatch. A large gash ran right over his eyebrow from the middle of his forehead to the middle of his right cheek, dripping blood into Hades' good eye.

"You insects." Hades growled as he slowly stood up, his body shaking with visible anger. "You have done it now. The mindless beast and the banished fairy, what an unexpected team. But no matter. I will deal with you now." Hades growled as he hand moved to his eyepatch, making Natsu raise an eyebrow. What was going to reveal a blind (or missing) eye to the world gonna do? Distract him?  
" **Devil's Eye… Open.** " Hades stated firmly as he removed his eyepatch. The second he did, the blind eye slid open in a demonic fashion, revealing a glowing red eye with no pupil. An eye that pulsed with dark and evil energy. The Devil's Eye.

"No man, woman, child or _mindless beast_ has stood against the might of the Devil's Eye and survived before. Afterall, it will grant me the power to reach the Grand Magic World, a world that you will both not live to see." Hades growled as dark purple, almost black energy began to flow around his body, his magical power spiking. The sudden increase in power caused Natsu to frown.

Despite his fluidity in his previous attacks, he was running low on magic power. He would be completely recharged instantly if he shifted into his dragon form, as his body would feed rapidly off the ethernano in the air. However that would reveal his trump card to everyone present. Not something he really wanted to do in front of a ton of legal mages. He'd have to end this quickly.

" **From the Book of Zeref, Volume Four, Verse 20, Hidden Magic: Nemesis!** " Hades called out. As soon as those cursed words left his lips, the magic around his body began to fuse into the rubble at his feet. And from the rubble rose a thick black substance. The liquid quickly began to take shape into several different looking monsters, their forms constantly shifting from one to another. The very image would strike fear into the hearts of lesser mages. However Natsu and Laxus appeared to be quite the exception. That said nothing for the Fairy Tail mages behind them.

"With this magic of the blackest wizard, I can make demons from even the stones at my feet, which I bend to my will as Heaven's Judge." Hades proclaimed. Natsu only raised an eyebrow. Heaven's Judge? Sounded more like Hell's Punisher.

Turning to see if Laxus could keep going, Natsu caught the sight of the trembling Fairy Tail mages behind him and frowned. It wasn't their fault that his brother's magic terrified them, it tended to do that people. However, they needed to stand up.

"Scarlet." Natsu called out curtly, causing Erza to shakily raise her head to meet his eyes. "Stand up." He ordered, making Erza shudder at the thought.

"I can't," Erza all but whispered, however Natsu's ears caught it.

"What do you mean, you can't? What have you got to be afraid of? All the old coot did was make a couple of monsters from some rocks and now you can't stand? I was under the impression that the Titania was better than this." Natsu scolded, causing Erza to choke out a sob and Natsu to frown again.

"You're all scared aren't you." Natsu only asked, his eyes flickering back to Hades. The old man was simply watching him, apparently interested. Not waiting for either Hades or Fairy Tail to respond, Natsu forged onwards.

"If you really are scared, then there's only one way to get rid of your fear." Natsu stated fondly as he remembered a certain lesson with the Black Dragon. The statement made all of the Fairy Tail mages look up at Natsu, and were baffled to see a small smile on his face.

"Stand up, the only way to get rid of fear is to face it." Natsu stated as his gaze shifted to little Wendy, who was staring at Natsu with her big eyes. "I know you can do it, you've all done it before." Natsu finished as he turned back around with Laxus, who gave a snort.

"Nice speech, but what the hell are we gonna do about him." Laxus said with a gesture to Hades who was now pulsing with Magic Power, his monsters growing restless. "The old guy's got a dozen demons ready to tear us to shreds and we have you, me and the cowering members of Gramps' guild." Laxus bluntly stated, making Natsu snort.

"He made monsters, not demons. Monsters can be made instantly and are cheap. Demons take a long time and are expensive. You and I could tear through the demons easily." Natsu snorted, making Laxus grunt at him.

"Then why the hell'd you give 'em a speech?"

"Someone needs to take care of the monsters while we fight the big guy." Natsu blandly stated to Laxus, who let out a chuckle as he turned behind him and saw the Fairy Tail group slowly forcing themselves to their feet.

"Looks like it worked." Laxus muttered before Hades decided to make himself known again.

"I will remember your words to the Fairies when you all fall Dragneel, it will be my form of a memoriam to the greatest battle I have had in ages. But now, fall! Attack, devils of the earth!" Hades yelled, causing his demons to roar as they all raced forward, with Natsu and Laxus rushing to meet their charge.

Diving under the first demon, Natsu popped back up and decapitated it cleanly with an **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Claw**. The spawn of Hades crumbled back into the earth as it died and Natsu pushed forwards. The dragonslayer twirled to avoid the next claw swipe from a monster, which immediately received a lightning bolt to the chest, blasting a hole clean through. The devil of rock let loose a scream as it hardened and fell apart into a bunch of small stoness.

Natsu ignited his fists and raced towards the nearest demon as Hades summoned two more to compensate for the two that died. " **Apocalypse Flame Dragon's Devastating Fist!** " Natsu yelled as he stuck his fist straight through the neck of a devil. Natsu then flipped over the monster, tearing it's head clean off it's shoulders as his other fist found a new home right in the forehead of the monster right behind it.

Sparing a glance back to Fairy Tail, he saw them finally on their feet and charging towards the devils of the Earth with a determined look on their faces. Apparently Laxus was right, his speech had worked. Who knew he had it in him?

Ducking under the fist of another demon, Natsu brought up his flame covered hands in a devastating uppercut that removed the demon's face from it's head as it slumped over dead. Turning to a more important target, Natsu sprinted towards Hades. The guildmaster growling as he watched Natsu rapidly approach him.

" **Begone!** " Hades yelled, his voice crackling with dark energy. The Grimoire Lord swung his arms forward and send several blasts of dark energy at Natsu, who only slid under them to avoid them.

" **No! I have worked too long and hard! I will not have my plans undone by some** _ **wretched dragon**_ **and a band of fairies!** " Hades shouted as he summoned two more devils from the earth at his feet and send them at Natsu, only for Laxus to decide to take care of them. And quite a few others.

"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction! **Raging Bolt!** " Laxus yelled as a massive thunderbolt dropped from the heavens and entered from the whole Laxus made when he arrived. The lightning strike obliterated the two new monsters completely and the other three closest to them. That and it sent Hades stumbling back a step, leaving him wide open. The Fairies rushed in and engaged any of the few remaining monsters, leaving Hades wide open for Natsu to strike. And that he did.

" **Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Tattered Nightmare!** " Natsu called as he stuck his arms out and two waves of imperial flames formed on each side of Hades. In one smooth motion, Natsu clapped his hands together and the flames blasted into the master of Grimoire Heart, covering him in a ball of flame.

Grunting as he felt the magic exhaustion begin to wear down on him, Natsu threw his connected hands down at the floor, sending the burning Hades crashing into the floor, where he laid gasping for breath.

"N-no! I can't have lost!" Hades gasped as he tried to righten himself, only for Natsu to walk over with a satisfied grin on his lips.

"G'night _Hades_ " Natsu mocked, emphasizing Precht's codename as he brought a bare fist up and slammed it down on Hades' temple, effectively disabling the Master of Grimoire Heart, and also likely giving Hades a nasty concussion. Concussions happen more than you'd think in this world.

Natsu let out a satisfied grunt as he slumped down to the floor, resting his arms on his crossed legs. The dragon took a deep breath and let out a pleasured exhale at the thought of every damn problem that had been in his way finally ending. Zeref could leave easily without any true threat to his safety, and that meant Natsu's job was done. Now he just needed to get off the island.

Giving himself a once over, Natsu declared he wasn't too injured. He still had the cut on his arm from his fight with Bluenote, and a few new injuries dotting his body from the fight with Hades, but he was still standing. A cut or two may need some stitches, but he was fine for now.

Brushing some dust from the fallen monsters of the earth off of him, the Apocalypse Dragon laid back against the wall to rest. Natsu believed that he deserved at least an hour of quiet after all he'd been through today. Six fights? Was that right? Natsu idly wondered if that was a record somewhere, six fights in one day. As the thoughts continued through his mind, Natsu let his eyes close. Everyone here was already exhausted and he could use a nap.

Only to open them again when he felt a sword press against the bottom of his chin.

"Stand up Dragneel, we need some answers from you." Erza commanded.

The knight herself was in pretty rough shape as well. Her pants were torn and the bandages around her breasts were fraying. Cuts littered her body, and despite all of that, Erza decided that her best course of action was to interrogate Natsu.

Natsu didn't move.

"Put the sword away Erza, I can answer any question you want while I'm sitting down." Natsu retorted as he watched the rest of the Fairies assemble behind Erza, with Laxus walking over to Natsu's side, ready to help Natsu if Erza went off her rocker. He had saved his life and Laxus also knew Erza had a short temper. Maybe he'd end up saving Natsu's life after the fight was over. The redhead was insane.

"Very well." Erza said curtly. "Why were you working with Grimoire Heart, I was under the impression you were done with Dark Guilds after the whole Nirvana incident." Erza interrogated, causing Natsu to let out a small sigh. Time for a few small lies.

"They had information on the location of Acnologia. I still need to find the old bastard so I figured I'd work on a couple jobs with them to get that info, this was one of those jobs." Natsu lied as he relaxed against the wall. His relaxed pose covering his lie completely.

Erza frowned, but seemed to buy the lie. "Still, why have you not gotten into work with legal jobs? You should try to reform your life." Erza scolded, this time gaining a scoff from Natsu and an annoyed look from Laxus.

"Figures you'd say that. Only someone who's never gotten their hands dirty thinks that it's easy to rebuild your life. Yet I can't. Everywhere I go there are wanted posters with my name on them, so getting jobs ain't exactly the easiest gig, Scarlet. Get off my case." Natsu snapped at Erza, who opened her mouth to retort before Natsu cut her off again.

"No, I'm done here. Being forced to answer questions isn't my forte. I'll see you around Fairy Tail, maybe as allies next time." Natsu stated as he pushed himself up and prepared to leave, until a small voice called out to him.

"Wait!"

Natsu turned around to meet the voice, only to have Wendy slam right into his stomach with a bone-crushing hug, causing Natsu grunt in surprise as the girl clung to him for dear life. This was a new one.

"Thank you for rescuing us." Wendy muttered into Natsu's chest, eliciting a small smile from the dragon.

"Don't mention it. I'm always happy to help you out Wendy." Natsu replied as he gently took her arms off of his body. "I'll see you around. Maybe I'll visit you again. Even if last time didn't go very well." Natsu said with a small grin, making Wendy giggle. His last visit had been rather disastrous hadn't it?

With a wave, Natsu gave Wendy a grin as he summoned up some of what remained of his magic power and began to glow a blue color. Then, in a flash, Natsu Dragneel was gone like _that_. Having enough energy to pull off another teleportation saved him from answering more unwanted questions apparently.

* * *

It a good hour and a half for the members of Fairy Tail and Laxus to return to camp. Despite all the events that occurred, the sun was still shining brightly down on Tenrou Island, coating the island in a warm light for all the fairies (and one now dead Godslayer… thanks Zeref) to share.

"Looks like you all survived after all." Gajeel said with a grin as he watched everyone make their way into camp. "Gotta say I'm surprised. I was sure that the popsicle would kick the bucket." The Iron Dragon Slayer taunted as Mirajane finished up his bandages.

"Do you wanna go Bucket-Brain?" Gray yelled back, making Erza sigh but ignore them for now as she made her way over to the master. She had matters to discuss with him. Dragon related matters.

Makarov looked up from the arising fight as he saw Erza approaching him. Said master had bandages wrapped around his waist from his fight with Hades but was no worse for wear. It was lucky that Gray had found him when he did.

"Ah, hello Erza. I must congratulate you on your victory over Hades. But I will need to talk with one of the people you brought back." Makarov greeted as his eyes locked onto Laxus, who was watching Gray and Gajeel fight with a small grin on his face. Some things never change.

"Of course, but I need to speak with you first about our quarrel with Hades." Erza responded, gaining Makarov's attention once again.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"I'm sure you remember a little over two months ago. The Edolas conflict had just been solved and we returned to the guild with a man named Natsu Dragneel who had helped us in the conflict. He specialized in **Apocalypse Dragon Slayer** magic. After he left we saw a dragon fly out from the forest and you and I were concerned for his safety?" Erza reminded the master, who nodded.

"Yes, I remember. He had quite the spirit in him, facing Gildarts' bravely like that." Makarov recalled fondly.

"He was present at our fight with Hades." Erza stated blunty. There was no use delaying it.

"He what?" Makarov asked, unsure if he had heard Erza correctly.

"He helped us fight Hades. Originally he had been working with Grimoire Heart in exchange for information on where his dragon was. However he turned on Hades after being apparently angered and saved all our lives, including Laxus', in the process." Erza summarized, making Makarov sigh as he stroked his mustache.

"I must say that his motivation makes sense." Makarov mumbled to himself, causing Erza to give the master an odd look. He was willing to work with a dark guild for possible information on his dragon? Didn't make much sense to her.

"Do not give me that look dear. Every dragonslayer out there misses their dragon more than anything. Wendy will openly tell you stories upon stories of Grandeeney and how she wishes to find her again. Gajeel is far more reserved, but I know he misses Metalicana dearly. The dragonslayers of this world would go to great lengths to be reunited with their parents. Natsu simply looked in darker places for his dragon." Makarov explained as he waved off Erza's concern. "He will be fine, do not fret about him. I could see he was a good man at heart."

"So let me get this straight" Erza heard from across the clearing. She turned to see Laxus and Gildarts sitting side by side, apparently enjoying each others company.

"You screwed up so badly you got kicked out of the guild by your own Grandpa. You're so lame!" Gildarts cried out as he bent over laughing, causing a tick to appear on Laxus' head.

"I'm not half as lame as you old man!" Was the retort.

Erza only smiled at their interaction and looked around the rest of Camp. Fairy Tail was still being Fairy Tail. Gray and Gajeel were still brawling, the Thunder Legion was chatting happily, same with the Strauss sisters. Levy and Lucy were watching Gray and Gajeel in astonishment that they could still fight. Juvia was desperately trying to gain Gray's attention and Cana sat near Gildarts and Laxus, leaning on the former with a soft grin on her face as she looked ready to drift asleep, and Gildarts had wrapped his arm around her in a fatherly manner. Erza's smile grew. Even after everything that happened, Fairy Tail was still Fairy Tail.

That was when a roar shook the heavens.

In an instant, the entire guild was on their feet, with two members looking slightly more anxious than the rest.

"What was that?" Laxus asked the rest of the guild, most of whom only shook their heads in confusion, they simply had no idea. It was unlike anything they had heard before, but there were two exceptions.

"It.. it can't be." Wendy muttered, her hands clasped over her mouth and eyes wide.

"It's impossible, they're all gone." Gajeel muttered as his eyes locked to the sky.

Gildarts' eyes were also locked on the sky. The roar was familiar, painfully familiar, but it wasn't quite the same. The roar of the dragon that had removed his limbs had been filled with anger and rage, this roar was filled with pride and challenging, as if it wanted to itself or something else to be proven.

"Makarov, you need to get everyone off this island now." Gildarts ordered as his eyes never left the sky, searching for that deadly black spot.

"I would enjoy an explanation first." Makarov stated with a raised eyebrow, causing Gildarts to whirl on his master, with fury and fear dancing in his eyes.

"Everyone needs to get off this island right now because that was the roar of a-" Gildarts started before he was interrupted by another roar and Gajeel.

"Dragon!" Gajeel yelled as everyone's gazes shot to the sky. There, flying in the clouds was the Black Dragon, the Dragon of the Apocalypse, the Dragon King himself…

Acnologia.

The Dragon was black as midnight itself, with blue tribal markings dancing along it's body and feathered wings. It's eyes were seemingly empty white holes that saw only targets to be eliminated. It's mouth filled razor sharp teeth, ready to tear his prey to pieces and swallow what remained. His hands and feet were lined with wicked sharp claws that could cleaves through the toughest of steel with no effort at all. And the coup de grace, on the tip of Acnologia's black tail was a barb, sharp enough to cleave through the skin of Dragons themselves.

And it was looking for the blood of Fairy Tail.

* * *

Still on Tenrou Island, Natsu Dragneel was asleep under the shade of a tree in the Tenrou Forest, his body soaking up Ethernano like a sponge in order to refill his magic power and to reinvigorate his tired muscles. One of the perks of being the Dragonslayer of an element that utilizes Ethernano so heavily, you got back up quickly.

Sadly, his hard earned sleep was shattered when he heard a roar rush through his sensitive ears. In less than an instant, Natsu was wide awake and on his feet, searching for the source of the noise. He had not heard that roar in _exactly_ five years, so why now?

Whipping his head to where he last heard the noise, Natsu's eyes widened as he picked up both the scent of one Dragon of the Apocalypse and all the mages of Fairy Tail that had been on the island. Great. Now they needed saving. Maybe he could convince his father to spare them? Unlikely.

 _Still, I've finally found the old bastard._ Natsu thought with a hint of anger as he rushed towards the Fairy Tail camp, relieved to find that the air's Ethernano had done wonders, just like usual.

 _Acnologia, here I come_. _And you sure as hell have some explaining to do._

* * *

"Get to the boat!" Makarov roared as the dragon descended. His magic flaring, the tiny man grew to dozens of times his original size as he rushed forwards and smashed the dark dragon, gaining a roar of surprise from the Dragon King.

"No, we won't leave you!" Erza yelled as Acnologia quickly recovered and started pushing against Makarov, both parties showing strain, the man more so than the dragon. Quickly changing positions before Acnologia could react, Makarov got the dragon into a headlock, allowing for some relief of his muscles as the dragon squirmed in his grasp, ready to attack the (now) large man.

" **Do as your master wishes and get to the ship!** " Makarov roared, his voice deepening due to his magic. The deadlock between the two powerhouses continued on, with Acnologia having the obvious upper hand here. Makarov was already tired, it was only a matter of time before he fell.

"Gramps you can't take that thing on alone!" Gray called out as he ducked to avoid the rubble being created as Makarov was slowly pushed backwards, creating rivets in the ground.

"Please don't play the hero!" Erza cried out.

"No overgrown lizard is tearing this guild apart, I'm staying with you master!" Freed chimed in

"I'll fight by the master's side til I drop!" Bickslow.

"I will fight until the bitter end!" Evergreen

"Same here! Like a real man!" Elfman

"You can't do this on your own!" Mirajane.

" **Enough!** " Makarov roared. " **Will you brats just shut up and honor your Master's final wish?! Get out of here now!** " The Third Master of Fairy Tail ordered, with determination deadset in his voice.

Not a single Fairy Tail mage was going to move until a single voice rang out across the entire area.

"Listen to your master and get out of here. It's the least we can do to follow his orders one last time after all these years." Laxus rang out as he grabbed Gray and Erza by the back of their necks and began to pull them towards the boat they had arrived on. Both mages began to protest until they got a good look at Laxus' face.

It wasn't it's usual stoic face. Laxus' face showed great turmoil at leaving his Grandfather to die, but it wasn't the hesitation that sold Gray and Erza. It was the unshed tears that were being held in his eyes.

Laxus didn't want to leave Makarov any more than the rest of them did. However, the son of Dreyar knew that the sacrifice had to be made if any of them were to live.

With great reluctance, the rest of Fairy Tail followed in Laxus' footsteps, leaving Acnologia to the Master. Or more likely leaving the Master to Acnologia.

" **My dear children.** " Makarov whispered to himself as he watched them all flee out of the corner of his eye. " **Let this be an important lesson to you all. It is hard to believe but this is for the best. Events like this are important for your future, they shape you into who you are. They teach you that tears are almost always wasted things. Is death caused by sadness? Or is sadness caused by death? My dear children.. You must learn! And grow! And live!** " Makarov called to his fleeing children, before reluctantly turning back to Acnologia.

Right as the monologue finished, Acnologia began to push harder against Makarov, causing the old man to gasp in pain as he lost his footing and was pushed to the ground. Wasting no time, Acnologia instantly began to dig his claws into Makarov's chest, causing the guildmaster to cry out in pain repeatedly as the claws dug further into his chest. By some miracle, the claws hadn't broken the skin yet, only causing immense pain.

Then, the master's screams slowly turned to chuckles. This was his end and he knew it. But he could die happy, he had protected his children from harm until his last breath, like a father would his child.

 _Mavis, Mother, Father, my wife, I will join you all now._ Makarov thought tiredly as he readied himself for death. He was ready.

Only it never came.

In an instant, a torrent of blue energy ripped through the air and Makarov watched in amazement as the blast struck Acnologia in the chest, forcing the dragon off of him as it landed with a roar.

" _Five Years!_ " A voice called out angrily. "You have been gone for _exactly_ five years! Where the hell were you?! What the hell possessed you to leave a fifteen year old who doesn't know how to _read_ in the middle of a forest!" Natsu Dragneel yelled angrily as his magic swirled around him in an angry torrent, eager to be let out on the Dragon.

The Black Dragon's gaze landed directly on the dragonslayer who had struck him and it seemed to freeze momentarily. " **Natsu…** " Acnologia rumbled, his voice like thunder, surprising Makarov. He didn't know the beast that had attacked him was sentient.

"And after all of this, I still need to fight you." Natsu responded, having calmed down considerably. He coolly looked his father in the eyes, who appeared to grin to Makarov.

" **I suppose your outburst is justified. Come now, let us see if you have surpassed me, my son** " Acnologia responded.

Natsu gave a small smile, but otherwise stayed stoic in response, perfectly aware of the unstated stakes. If he won, he got an explanation, if he lost, Tenrou burned.

It was at this point that those in Fairy Tail turned around to see what had happened to their master, and found Natsu in his place. Paralyzed with interest, they could only watch as Natsu prepared to take on his father. It would be their downfall.

A spiral of purple and black formed around Natsu as his magic power began to multiply, and in just a few short seconds, a second black dragon rocketed from the energy towards Acnologia, who roared in approval.

" **The Dragonification is complete! Let us see what it has done for your strength, I won't hold back child!** " Acnologia roared as he raced towards Natsu, who met his charge head on.

They met in a clash instantly. The speed of Natsu's charge forced back Acnologia, who lost his momentum momentarily, only for Natsu to whip his tail around and scratched his spearhead like tail across Acnologia's chest, causing a harsh scratching noise like Nails on a chalkboard.

The larger dragon roared in approval and anger as Acnologia grabbed Natsu by his tail and threw him towards the ground. Natsu was sent into said earth with enough force to create a large crater.

Sparing no time, Acnologia landed right on top of Natsu and prepared to headbutt him before Natsu counterattacked. In the first display of magic between the two dragons, Natsu let loose a stream of imperial purple flames from his maw, right into Acnologia's face, causing the Black Dragon to roar in pain as he was sent backwards.

" **Impressive Natsu, you've managed to combine that fire dragon's flames with my own power. As to be expected of my student,** " Acnologia commented as he watched Natsu righten himself.

" **That ain't all I got you old gecko**." Natsu commented with a smirk as he got up and launched himself at Acnologia, who braced himself this time and caught Natsu as he slammed into his chest. With his head taking on an ethereal blue glow, Acnologia slammed his head down onto Natsu's back, forcing his son to the ground as he drew his head back and began to inhale.

Before Acnologia could roar, Natsu spun around and knocked out the Black Dragon's legs from underneath him, sending the King sprawling. Pushing onwards, Natsu's teeth bursted into purple flames as he rushed towards his father with a flaming maw.

Reaching him before Acnologia was fully upright, Natsu latched down onto Acnologia's neck with his power infused teeth, making Acnologia roar in outrage at the very thought of being pinned.

In a sudden burst of speed, Acnologia launched into the air, shaking off Natsu who hurriedly took off after his father. The battle had now taken to the skies. And those crystal blue skies of Tenrou Island would be covered in dragonfire on that day.

Whipping his tail around, Acnologia struck at his pursuing son, who roared in pain as it made contact with his back, causing his flight to fumble for a few seconds. However a few seconds was all Acnologia needed, as he shot forward full force, creating a sonic boom behind him.

At the speed of sound, Acnologia was upon Natsu, grabbing the smaller dragon by the wings and clamping down on his neck, making Natsu roar in pain. In retaliation, Natsu quickly started to spin in the air like an Alligator would to tear it's food.

Acnologia let out a thunderous rumble as his world began to spin around being clamped to his student's neck. He bit down with a fair bit of his might and swore he could feel the scales begin to crack underneath his neck as he spun through the air, still attached to his student.

When the spinning stopped, Acnologia was still firmly attached to Natsu's neck, but was slightly disoriented. Flying at breakneck speeds, Natsu quickly did a flip in the air to return to the skies above Tenrou, and gave his head a vigorous shake, which quickly detached the _very_ slightly dazed Black Dragon.

Natsu was quick to unleash another roar at Acnologia, who boomed with displeasure as the flames made contact with his scales and pushed him back. The force of the flames permanently darkening some of the scales until they would be shed.

Keeping the pressure up, as soon as his roar ended, Natsu shot into Acnologia, his body alight with his purple flames and rammed right into the burnt scales on Acnologia's chest. The audible _crack_ of a dragon scale breaking could be heard all throughout Tenrou Island, as well as Acnologia's surprised cry of pain.

Throwing his son to the side, Acnologia looked down at his chest to see that three scales across his pectorals had indeed been cracked by the attack delivered by Natsu. He growled in response. He would not be triumphed over by his student, not yet anyways.

Acnologia was excited for the day when Natsu would triumph over him, but he knew today was not that day, and it would not be for some time until his first student would finally overcome him.

But that didn't mean that the cracked scales didn't hurt like a _bitch_.

Roaring in outrage, Acnologia shot like a rocket at Natsu, who turned around to be met with a full force Black Dragon to the chest, and Acnologia chomping down on Natsu's neck again, this time in a position that he couldn't roll out of. Even the oldest dragonslayers could develop motion sickness, after all.

Natsu let out an explosion of pain as he felt his father bite down on his neck. Once again, the audible _crunch_ of dragon scales breaking was heard, but this time accompanied by a roar of pain and a river of blood, flowing from Natsu's neck. Then, like a ragdoll, Natsu was tossed right back into the ground by Acnologia, where he hit the earth at a bullet's speed, and made yet another crater on Tenrou Island. They might need to refurnish the island after this.

" **You are strong Natsu, very strong.** " Acnologia commented as he watched his son try to get up on the ground, who only succeeded in collapsing back down and watering the earth in his blood. His student did have spirit though, Acnologia noticed, he kept trying to get back up. " **Yet, this fight is over. You may triumph over me soon, but that day is not today.** " Acnologia finished as he shot down and slammed his claw down on Natsu's back, causing another roar of pain before Acnologia hefted Natsu up (damn brat was heavy) and slammed him on the ground again, finally knocking out Natsu and reverting him back to his human form, where he would use less magic in his unconscious state.

Acnologia looked down at his broken pupil at his feet. He would heal, he always has, even from worse injuries than that. That being said, his student was not to die here on Tenrou Island with the rest of these mages.

The dragon's eyes momentarily scanning the waves, he spotted a small boat with two passengers on it, they would have to do. In one smooth motion, Acnologia swung his tail around like a baseball bat and swatted Natsu out to sea.

The wind rushing by his face was enough to briefly revive Natsu, who, upon seeing the rapidly fleeing Tenrou Island, knew he had failed. Fairy Tail would die on this day, all because he wasn't strong enough to defeat his father. Not even just to avenge Igneel, but just to surpass his father.

Natsu barely let out a grunt as he hit the bright blue water's surface and skipped like a stone across the mesmerizing sea, before finally hitting the water and sinking right next to some small boat. Ironic, he would sink right new to a floating boat. What a way to go.

As the light from the sun faded beneath the waves, Natsu briefly wondered if Acnologia actually meant to kill him there, or if he had aimed for the raft. He was remarkably close after all. The small hope that his father had just missed dimmed more and more as the sun did. Even if his father had just missed, he was still going to drown. The burning sensation in his lungs and his blurred vision told him that.

At least that was what Natsu thought.

Natsu barely felt the hand around his arm that began to pull him upwards until he was forced out of the surface and heaved into the small boat in one motion. Gasping for breath, Natsu rolled onto his side and heaved seawater into the poor boat that had just saved his life. He could faintly hear voices behind him talking about something, probably him.

"S he gonna be okay Ult-" Came in one voice before it faded out.

"On't know Me-" came the other before it faded.

And out of the corner of his eye, Natsu saw Tenrou Island be engulfed by the familiar energy of his father.

 _Forgive me Fairy Tail, I was not strong enough_. Was Natsu's last thought before he faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

 _Well holy crap, that was a fun chapter. So yeah, that pretty much concludes the Tenrou Arc. I guess the next chapter will cover the what happened during the time skip but that's pretty much the end of this story's third arc. 16 chapters and 3 arcs, not bad. I think it was 7 for Nirvana, 4 for Edolas, and then 5 for Tenrou?_

 _Oh yeah and this is the first chapter to break 10k, it just had enough going on to do so._

 _Anyways, enough of my rambling besides. That was chapter 16, I hope you enjoyed. Lemme know what you thought. Oh yeah and I promise that the new story'll be out within the next… 2 weeks? That's a loose promise right there._

 _See you later,_

 _-Solo_


	17. Homecoming

The first thing Erza noticed when the light died down was just how much her head _hurt_. It felt like someone had been having a great time slamming a screwdriver right into her skull with as much force as possible. Like a hangover only twenty times worse.

"-Za, Erza! Can you hear us?" Erza groggily made out the voice of Alazck Connell in her deluded state, only for something to not sit right. They were on Tenrou Island, why was Alzack here? He wasn't an S-Class participant.

Erza let out a groan as she pushed herself up off the ground and opened her eyes. Then everything came back to her like a suckerpunch to the skull. Their fight with Hades, Acnologia's arrival, Natsu turning into a dragon, Natsu losing, their brief struggle against the Dragon (with the entire guild managing to do less damage than Natsu) and everyone holding hands with bracing themselves for Acnologia's roar attack to devastate the island.

So plenty of fond memories.

Then another thought shot right into Erza's mind. If they had just lost to Acnologia, how was Alzack here? She thought they were all dead? Was he dead too?

Gasping in a breath as Erza's eyes focused on the island in a snap, the redhead nearly collapsed again from her kneeling position. She forced herself to look up to look Alzack in the eye.

"Hades, Acnologia, Light." Erza gasped out as her ears kept ringing, frustrated that she couldn't get anything more than just words out.

"Hey, Erza! It's okay, Makarov's already told us what happened." She heard Bisca's voice call out, confusing Erza further. Another guildmate who wasn't supposed to be here.

Forcing her eyes to focus fully on who was around her. Erza's bleary vision made out Bisca, Alzack, Macao and Wakaba, all standing around her with worried and slightly shocked glances. Yet, there was something about all of them that was… different than before.

In an instant it snapped into place why they looked different.

"Why do you all look so much older than from a few days ago?" Erza questioned, causing everyone around her to frown. With his frown still present, Macao responded.

"I think it'll be easier to explain that when we've found everyone." He stated as he held out his hand for Erza to get up.

"Seven years?!" Makarov asked in shock as his entire guild gathered around him. His shock was echoed by all of the Tenrou Group. They had been away for Seven Years due to _one_ attack from the Dragon of the Apocalypse?

"To be honest, we still aren't sure how you survived." Macao admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Acnologia's attack should have obliterated the island, with nothing but a crater left. And for seven years that's what we all thought happened. Tenrou Island was just… _gone_. There wasn't anything here, and now it's back! Coming right from the ocean in a giant ball of orange right in front of our boat. So we were more than a little surprised."

Makarov scratched his moustache at the explanation. It did seem rather odd that they were gone for Seven Years then appeared in 'a giant ball of orange' out of nowhere. Unless that giant ball of orange was… but that wasn't possible. That magic had been lost for _decades_. Makarov himself only knew one of the spells!

"It can't be…" Makarov trailed off, only for a light laugh that sounded like the chiming of bells to interrupt his train of thought.

"Hello Makarov! I haven't seen you since you were a baby!" Came a voice to their right, causing everyone's heads to snap to the direction from which the sound came. While expecting to see some ancient old lady, they were surprised to see an energetic looking 14 year old bouncing up and down on her heels with a large smile on her face.

She wore a white dress with pink frills, and small white wings were placed in her hair. Said hair was a brilliant platinum blonde, and her eyes a captivating green. She adorned a big smile, and was seemingly childishly happy to see her old guild again.

"Mavis Vermillion…" Makarov trailed off, causing the little girl to beam at her name being spoken.

"Yup! I'm glad I could help save your from that big bad dragon!" Mavis chimed happily, flushing confusion through everyone present. How had the little girl helped? They were missing for seven years.

"Uh.. excuse me Miss Mavis, but how did you help?" Alzack asked, confusion clear in his tone, which ended up getting yet another giggle from the First Master of Fairy Tail.

"I used **Fairy Sphere**! It's an ultimate defense spell that I only had the energy to use because you all banded together and lent me your strength. But it did keep you locked away for a while." Mavis stated, before trailing off. "Didn't use to do that." The First Master mumbled before shaking her head.

"That is a bit… much." Makarov stated, getting nods from everyone in his guild.

"Oh don't worry about it, but don't you all have a guild to get back to?" Mavis chirped happily before narrowing her eyes a bit and going up to Macao, who took a step back at the look in Mavis' eyes.

"I still don't like what you allowed him to do for you." Mavis scolded, getting a sigh from Macao.

"Yeah, neither do I, but let's just go home with our old friends for now." Macao answered, suddenly looking much older than before. As if someone had just reminded him that the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

The simple interaction between the two drew confused looks from the members of Fairy Tail whom had been on Tenrou for the last seven years, and made the current ones flinch at what Mavis was implying. They however put it off as for Macao's request to go home, something that everyone was looking forward to doing.

* * *

"What happened to the guild?!" Lucy exclaimed as the group made their way through Magnolia, only to see the Guildhall, while somewhat still there, heavily damaged with scaffolding and materials all around, with the repairs seemingly almost done.

Alzack drew a dark look to his face as he remembered the events of how the Guildhall was damaged. It wasn't exactly a happy memory, after all. "About three years ago, a girl and her pet duck stumbled into our guild, half awake and starving. We took care of them, and she went to find some answers with one of the guild's friends, but when they came back, a mercenary guild named Carbuncle nearly totalled the guildhall in trying to kidnap her. We've been repairing the place every since." Alzack briefly explained, gaining horrified looks from all of the Tenrou Survivors.

"Was the girl okay in the end?" Erza slowly asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. She was relieved when she heard Wakaba snort in amusement at the question, as if the answer was humorous to him.

"Remember that friend Alzack mentioned? Yeah he wasn't to happy with being shot at when he was trying to sleep and basically burnt all of Veronica's damned capital to the ground to get back at the mercenary guild." Wakaba explained with a grin, gaining a horrified look from Makarov.

"He declared war on another kingdom!?" Makarov shouted in outrage, gaining weird looks from the locals.

It was at this point that Bisca openly started laughing. Same with Alzack. Like full on doubled over laughing with tears almost coming out of their eyes.

"Technically Veronica declared war on us, so there was no firestorm for our friend getting back at the idiotic prince who tried to summon a demon of Zeref to grant himself eternal life." Macao explained.

Makarov opened his mouth to ask more questions, but was shushed by Macao. "We can answer all of your questions, but for now, you have a guild that's missed you." The purple flare mage explained with a grin, causing remembrance to smack into Makarov's skull like a hammer.

The guild. It hadn't had a master for seven years. They had lost their most powerful members in the Tenrou Incident. And those next seven years certainly couldn't have been easy on the guild, so just how did they pull through with so little damages (aside from the mercenary guild)?

"I think we'll let you guys go in first, after all, you've been missing for seven years." Macao said with a wink, before gesturing to the doors.

Makarov wasted no time in strolling up to the doors and throwing them open, and eyeing the guild before him. It was still cheery, members (some he recognized, some he did not) were laughing and talking in an upbeat mood but it was clear that this was not the Fairy Tail from seven years ago.

There was no brawl threatening to break out, no furniture upturned and no unconscious guild members from either brawling or alcohol, so it was Fairy Tail… but at the same time it wasn't.

A grin made it's way onto Makarov's face as he watched a few unfamiliar heads turn his way and disregard him quickly. Apparently some old man walking into the guild was nothing new around here.

However he did see a few familiar faces turn his way, such as Reedus and Kinana. The painter's jaw dropped open as the paintbrush fell out of his fingers and hit the ground. His sketch left unfinished due to the shock.

Kinana let out a gasp and dropped the mug she was cleaning, the glass shattering against the floor, drawing most of the guild's attention to the barmaid's awestruck face, before turning to the source of her expression, and viewing the Tenrou Group in all of it's injured glory.

"Guess what idiots!" Gray hollered, a stupid grin stretched across the Ice Make Wizard's face. "We're back!" Gray shouted at the top of his lungs, causing all of the old members to erupt into cheers as they rushed the Tenrou Group, swarming them instantly.

All of the Tenrou Group could only laugh as they were swarmed by their friends, both old and new and answered all of the questions thrown their way. Where were they? How did Tenrou disappear? And why were they gone for so friggin' long?.

"Yes, yes my children, we have returned, so this calls for what Fairy Tail knows how to do the best, Party!" Makarov called out, gaining another round of cheers from the guild.

Within seconds, beers had been passed all around, arms had been slung around shoulders, and songs were being sung as the original attitude of Fairy Tail returned. As if it had never left.

Makarov grinned as he watched his children rejoice at their return, but it dimmed slightly as he gestured for Macao to come over to his side. The purple flare mage did so without hesitation, and knew what Makarov was going to ask about.

"Kinana, keep a beer ready for me! I'm going to need it after talking about the guildmaster position!" Makarov hollered to Kinana, who grinned at her master and gave him a thumbs up.

And with that, Makarov led Macao to his office, where a whole new discussion was about to take place.

"So," Makarov began as he closed his old office's door behind him. "How have you managed, running the top guild in the country for seven years." The Third Master said with a little grin, which got a huff from Macao.

"We can't exactly call ourselves the best guild out there anymore." Macao responded, gaining a look from Makarov. "Don't worry, we're far from last, just not the top dogs anymore."

Makarov pondered what had been said. It didn't really matter anyways, he was just so used to Fairy Tail being at the top that it was weird to hear that it no longer was. No matter, with the Tenrou Group back they'd be number 1 in no time, Makarov knew it.

"I see, well then we have our work cut out for us." Makarov responded with a small grin. "But how has the guild been over the years? It couldn't have been easy running a guild that took a major blow like that for seven years."

Macao let out a tired laugh. "I can see why you got pissed at Gray whenever he destroyed stuff. That paperwork is a nightmare." Macao joked, earning a grin from Makarov. It was about time that someone learned what a headache the paperwork was.

"And other than that? How has rebuilding the guildhall been, and where did you get all the money to do so?" Makarov asked, simply wishing to know Macao's secret.

What he wasn't expecting, was for the grin Macao had been sporting to vanish almost instantly, and to be replaced with a deep frown. Age seemed to suddenly weight down on Macao, causing him to suddenly look many years older than he had a few moments before.

"Yes, the Phoenix disaster…" Macao trailed off solemnly. "We lost a good friend and member to those events."

Makarov raised an eyebrow, earlier he had made it sound like they just got a few scratches and a damaged building out of it, but lost a member? To death or leaving?

Voicing his question, Makarov wished to know for an answer. "Was this friend of yours killed or did he simply leave?"

The bitter chuckle from the purple mage made Makarov fear for the worst. "You know you won't believe who it was actually. Remember that Natsu guy who floored Gray and Erza, then stood on even ground with Gildarts?" Makarov gave a hesitant nod, Erza had said he had been on Tenrou, and Makarov say the boy shift into a dragon to go toe to toe with Acnologia.

"Yeah, he showed up 'bout three days after you guys vanished. God I still remember how he entered the guild. Guy was half dead on his feet" Macao chuckled in remembrance.

"The boy showed up almost dead?" Makarov asked in shock, making Macao let out a laugh.

"You would too if you went a round with the Dragon of the Apocalypse, Natsu showed up on our doorsteps with his injuries untreated so he could help us out. Hell of an entrance really." Macao said with a sad grin, as if remembering a bittersweet memory. Which he was really.

And so, he began the tale.

* * *

 _It was a somewhat normal day at the Fairy Tail Guild when everything changed for the guild. It was a little quieter than usual, with the most powerful (and trouble making) members of the guild off at the S Class Trials on Tenrou Island._

 _That all changed when someone stumbled into the guild._

 _The guild quieted when they felt his power (even if injured) radiate off of him. He gave off magic power like a beacon, and it drew all of their interest. The hooded figure stumbled into the nearest chair and let out a sigh of relief as he sat down, and soon after two more hooded figures entered behind him. The first appeared to be a male, due to his stocky build and clear masculine build, the others appeared to be female, one with very developed curves, and the other with developing. However, none of them seemed to be in a good mood._

" _So…" The hooded Natsu Dragneel stated, "You all can drink and cheer without a thought of what has happened on Tenrou." He muttered in what seemed like disgust. "Humans."  
_ " _The hell do you mean 'what has happened on Tenrou' Grim Reaper?" Wakaba called out from the back, making Natus narrow his eyes on the man._

 _It was true, the more Natsu looked around, the more he could feel the general confusion in the air. As if they didn't even know that Tenrou was gone. Which would be absurd of course. The Magic Council would've informed them immediately about the events that happened on Tenrou._

 _Then it snapped into place for Natsu. Of course the sots on the Council didn't tell Fairy Tail what happened on Tenrou, the Council all but despised this guild but couldn't do anything against them since the public loved them. How long would it be before someone other than Natsu would inform them?_

 _Natsu grunted as he prepared himself for the onslaught of questions and anger to follow. He thanked the gods that his two companions were right beside him if someone tried to kill him. That might not end well._

" _I'm surprised you didn't hear." Natsu murmured as he stood from his seat, still leaning on the table from his injuries. "Tenrou Island has been obliterated by the Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia. There weren't even ashes left." Natsu said, effectively dropping the bombshell on Fairy Tail, and had to keep his senses in check as he felt instant sorrow, confusion, disbelief and horror float through the air, scents so strong his almost staggered._

" _You're lying, nothing from heaven or hell could take down those guys." Came the lax response of Macao, who barely looked up from his beer glass and conversation with Wakaba, who was also paying attention._

 _Natsu scowled, he hated being called a liar. The dragon stood up and strode over to Macao's table, before promptly flipping the table. Macao stood up instantly and the guild felt a brawl coming on before a savage punch from Natsu sent Macao splintering back into his chair, shocking most of the guild. There goes that brawl._

" _What would I gain from coming to your guild, lying to you about your comrades, and risking your anger in the process." Natsu snarled at the dazed Macao, silencing the entire guildhall._

" _...why would you tell us this? You aren't with the council." Alzack quietly asked from across the guildhall, prompting Natsu's head to turn towards the gunslinger. A permanent frown still etched on his head. Grabbing his hood, and in one fluid motion, Natsu revealed his face to the entire guildhall, who gasped in realization and horror at who stood in front of them._

 _Natsu Dragneel looked little different from before, the only major difference being the large bruise and bandages on the left side of his face from when his father sent him skipping across the water like a stone. Asshole._

" _Because it was my father who killed your friends, I was not strong enough." Natsu uttered quietly, flooring the guildhall once more. They all remembered Natsu's fights with Gray, Erza and Gildarts, when he went blow for blow with the strongest member of the guild._

" _They're actually gone…" Wakaba whispered, tears shining in his eyes, as there were in many of the eyes of those in the guild. Their friends were gone, murdered by a monster, and here was his son, telling them what happened._

 _Which made something click in all Alzack, Wakaba and Bisca's minds. Why wasn't Natsu able to stop his father? Was he now here to gloat over their deaths? Mock them over how his father had slaughtered them all like pigs?_

 _Wakaba growled in anguish as he shot a solid cloud of smoke at Natsu, who turned to see the attack coming, but instead of dodging, simply closed his eyes and let it hit him._

 _The blow sent the injured Dragneel rocketing across the guildhall, where he slammed into a wall, causing the Dragon to groan in pain as he slid down the wall, opening his eyes just in time to see a scowling Alzack spin one of his pistols out of their holsters and fire a bright shot right into his chest, forcing Natsu through the wall, only for a chain that Bisca launched to drag him back into the guildhall, where he was met with a fist made of smoke, crashing him into the ground._

 _After these attacks, Natsu's companions quickly stood up and prepared to defend him, only for Natsu to weakly raise his hand to stop them from the floor. They needed this._

 _Wakaba scowled as he walked over to Natsu and placed his foot on his chest, making Natsu grunt in pain as his already damaged ribs felt extra pressure._

" _Why come back." Wakaba growled as he began to push down harder. "What'd you hope to gain here, from telling us our friends are dead?" Wakaba demanded with tears in his eyes, as Natsu let out a deep, pain filled sigh._

" _I could not prevent my father's actions, but I can help atone for them. I'm here to offer my help in the coming years. They will be harsh and unforgiving." Natsu spoke quietly, causing Wakaba's eyes to widen._

 _This guy showed up at their guildhall to tell them what had happened to their friends, and to offer his help and what did he get in return? They beat the shit out of him. Way to start things off on the right foot Fairy Tail._

" _Oh" was the only response from Wakaba as he got off Natsu's chest, to which his two companions rushed over to him and helped him up, making Natsu groan as his ribs yelled in protest. That smoke fist could do a number on his pre damaged ribs all right._

 _The dragon spat a small glob of blood on the floors as he dusted himself off and looked across the guildhall, which was dead silent save for some reclused sobbing, causing Natsu to sigh._

" _But, perhaps now is not the time to offer my help." Natsu muttered quietly as he turned towards the door. "Mourn your losses, Fairy Tail. I will be living in the park for the next week, I will await your answer for my services. If you never wish to see me again for what my father has done, I will not blame you." Natsu swore as he quietly walked out the guild doors, limping to the park, with the larger one of his companions supporting him, in a way far too close for just a friend._

* * *

Makarov had to blink back his surprise from hearing the story of Natsu's arrival at the guild. He had known there was good in the boy, but apparently the rest of the guild had not seen it when his sorrow was on his sleeve. A frown marred the old master's face as Macao finished his story, and he pondered for a bit.

"I must say, I am a bit disappointed in you all, Macao." Makarov admitted, to which the Purple Flare mage chuckled.

"Oh we all beat ourselves up over it for years to come, but Natsu always tried to convince us that it was fine. Don't think any of us really believed him though. He always shouldered so much of the blame. Some of the guys out there still hate him." Macao said with a faraway look in his eyes as he gestured to the raging party outside, making Makarov's frown deepen.

Natsu Dragneel had come to atone for his father's action and members of his guild felt _hatred_ towards the man? He would have to do something about that.

"So I take it you all did accept his help then?" Makarov asked, causing Macao to nod.

"Yeah, after about 4 days Wakaba and I went to go find him, ask people around town if they'd seen him, we didn't actually think he'd be living in the park." Macao chuckled. "Nothin' big happened there, but he agreed to help us out on large missions, specifically S-Class, since we'd just lost all of our S-Class mages."

"And what of his companions that you mentioned? Did they stay as well?"  
Macao held a thoughtful expression for a moment before speaking, his dark purple brow wrinkling.

"Nah, they took off pretty quickly after Natsu told 'em they could go. Nice looking lady though, and I could tell the kid was gonna be a heartbreaker when she grew up. I think their names were Ultear and Melody? Meredy? Somethin' like that." Macao said with a shrug, gaining a nod from the master. "They offered for him to work with them though, but Dragneel turned 'em down since he really felt that he owed us."

Makarov raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Are they related to why the guild is currently being rebuilt?" The old master asked, making Macao groan at the mention of the rebuilding.

"The rebuilding of the guildhall is a long story, but no, they weren't involved, some mercenary guild was." Makarov nodded at that, then gestured for Macao to continue, who chuckled at some invisible thought. "Though, Natsu put up a hell of a fight during that battle. I think he was the last one fighting, guy was unstoppable." Macao said with a longing grin as he remembered the day the guildhall burnt.

* * *

" _We're back." Natsu announced as he pushed open, two figures in tow. Immediately, most of the guild rushed over to see how his journey had gone. The dragon had a few small abrasions along his body, but nothing major, probably a result of going through that damned forest._

" _Hey, Natsu, what'd you guys find out?" Macao calmly called out from across the guildhall, making Natsu sigh and gesture to one of his companions, a lovely woman with long brown hair pulled into a braid and warm chocolate eyes._

" _It would seem that my father knew how to kill the Phoenix, but his research has all but been lost." She told them sadly, making the atmosphere in the guild deflate a bit. They were all hoping that she'd find answers in their journey._

 _Sensing his friend's distress, the second companion, a small yellow duck, happily hopped up onto the woman's shoulder. "C'mon Éclair, it wasn't' a total bust! You got to remember some stuff!" The little duck called out happily, making the woman, now known as Éclair, smile slightly._

" _Momon is right Éclair, you found parts of your past." Natsu said with a soft smile as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure it'll only be a bit longer before you remem-" Was as far as Natsu got before he froze stiff as a board and sniffed the air, the soft look on his face going dead serious._

" _Natsu?" Éclair asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"_

" _Everyone down!" Natsu commanded as he tackled Éclair to the ground, just before the wall around them erupted with cannonfire, sending splinters all around and even blowing some guild members off of their feet, sending them pinwheeling across the guildhall._

 _As the walls were blown apart, Natsu heard one distinct order be called out from their attacker. "Get the girl," Came a calm and collected voice as the building burnt around them._

 _Through his dazed vision, Natsu looked up to see four figures entering the guildhall, one with cannons strapped to his back, another dressed like a friggin hooker, a mysterious figure dressed like a murder might, and their apparent leader, who strolled in in a black cloak, with his long teal hair hanging over his eyes._

" _Like hell you will." Natsu grumbled as he stood up from the rubble and glanced around the guildhall. It was all in ruins. Tables had been turned, tossed and destroyed. Holes now lined the wall and all sorts of piping and foundations were blown to hell by what Natsu could only assume was the idiot who had attacked his guild._

 _So that meant he died first._

 _With a roar, Natus leapt to his feet, flying past Alzack and Bisca, who were taking cover behind a table and taking their shots when they could._

 _The large cannoned man's eyes widened as he watched the enraged dragonslayer fire towards him, alight with purple flames and full of anger. He swiveled his gun towards Natsu and fired, only for the blast to slam into Natsu. Slightly relieved, he let a grin slip onto his face again before the smoke cleared._

 _And when it did, Natsu was not happy. His clothes were slightly torn but he was otherwise completely unaffected. His eyes burst into purple flame as he leaped at the cannoned man, who took another shot, only to have it caught by Natsu, who hurled the shell back at the man._

 _He didn't even have time to yell before he was blasted off of his feet and Natsu shot after him like a speeding bullet, swinging his fist around and slamming the cannoned man straight into the ground, leaving him groaning and down for the count._

 _Landing smoothly, Natsu felt a pair of eyes upon him. The leader of the group was staring at him intently after seeing him dismantle his team mate like that. Apparently it didn't please him. He began to stride towards Natsu, who still had red hot anger flowing through his veins._

 _Natsu broke into a sprint along the shattered floorboards and sprang at the leader, who lazily waved a hand and let a blast of telekinetic energy blast Natsu backwards, sending him flying into a wall, making yet another crater in the guildhall. Add that to the repair bill._

 _The leader only let out a dark chuckle as he saw the biggest threat in the guildhall go flying. Convinced he had dealt with the problem, the teal haired man turned around to secure the package, only to see a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye._

 _Turning around to see who was still standing, he quickly saw that the man he thought he had killed was in fact, not dead, and so more mad than anything._

 _Before he could react, Natsu buried his fist in the man's stomach and sent him rolling across the guildhall, where he laid on the ground for a few seconds, registering that he had just been struck for the first time in many years. His magic tended to let him avoid all blows, but not if he was caught by surprise._

 _Rolling to his feet, the teal haired man narrowly dodged the thunderous impact from Natsu's foot that left the floor splintering, momentarily obscuring both his and Natsu's vision, but it was all he needed._

 _Thrusting his hand forward in Natsu's general direction, the man sent both Natsu and all the wood particle flying away from him and into the wall, only he missed the flash of blue before Natsu's impact._

 _Shaking the debris from his eyes and hair, the telekinetic looked up just in time to receive an energy covered fist right to the jaw, sending him backwards with another groan, only this time Natsu gave him no time to recover._

 _He was upon the telekinetic in an instant, with a flurry of strikes that battered the man up and sent him sailing across the guildhall, where he managed to land of his feet, and prepared to strike again, only for one of his companions, the mysterious one, to reappear right next to him and speak._

" _Dyst, we have what we need, I recommend falling back." He spoke, his voice just as cold as his appearance. However his words made the now known Dyst nod._

" _Very well Chaser, grab Cannon and let's get out of here. Coordinator, we're leaving!" Dyst yelled across the guildhall, and in a flash, all four members of the mercenary guild Carbuncle, were gone._

 _Natsu let out a heavy sigh as all of his anger flushed out of his system and his eyes returned to normal. Scanning the guildhall, he saw that no one had been fatally injured, at worse a few broken bones that would heal in time. The Dragonslayer quickly headed over to where Éclair appeared to be nursing a migraine and Momon was sitting quietly beside her. The brunette only slightly looked up when she saw Natsu approaching._

" _Are you two okay?" Natsu asked gently, quickly looking them over for injuries, and was relieved to find none._

" _They got the stone." Éclair muttered quietly, making Natsu go rigid. Of course they did_

* * *

"After that, Natsu had to go to Veronica to try to take the stone back by himself, he was the only guy who could still fight after the ambush. He got there a little late though, and the idiot prince already combined the stones and released the damn beast." Macao recalled bitterly, before he let out a chuckle. His emotions seemed to be flipping all over the place today, well, his friends did just return from being dead for 7 years.

"A few of us, myself included, got there a little later to see if we could help after we got our smaller injuries fixed up. Boy did we get to see a fight. The Dragon vs the Phoenix. I don't think we'll ever forget that day. At the end, he tore the damn things head off before turning back into his human form. Told us that Éclair and Momon left, but we'd see them around. Some dude named Geese said he'd take care of them for a bit or something, I don't remember." The purple flare recalled, before a truly bitter look made it's way onto his face. "And after that, everything just went downhill."

"What do you mean by, 'downhill?'" Makarov asked, leaning forward in his seat to hear the tale. His simple question made Macao let out a deep sigh, all bitterness leaving his face just as quickly as it came and simply being overtaken by regret and sorrow.

"After the Phoenix Incident… people treated us differently. We were no longer the proud and mighty Fairy Tail that had almost recovered from losing it's most powerful member. Now we were the drunks living in a broken down guildhall, trying to scrape together enough funds to fix the damned place." Macao explained, gaining a grunt from Makarov. Whether it was from anger or disappointment, Macao couldn't tell. "So, we went through with a plan that we hoped we'd never have to do. Sacrifice one of our own."

* * *

 _It was about a month after the guild returned from Veronica. The sun was shining through the broken down guildhall, with everyone in relatively damp moods. There were no drunken brawls and jolly spirits, there was instead a somber mood and a few mages coming and going on their jobs to support themselves._

 _Then the broken doors swung open, the left nearly falling off it's hinges, and the tired Natsu Dragneel, Alzack Connell and Bisca Mulan walked in. The three had clearly seen better days. Natsu was covered in dirt, all over his face and his hooded armor had a new set of scraps all over it, with 37 ticks written in on his left vambrace, the number of missions he'd done to help restore the guildhall._

 _Alzack and Bisca were in slightly more upbeat spirits, Bisca was leaning heavily on Alzack's shoulders with a soft smile on her face as her partner had one arm wrapped around her waist. The couple quickly made their way to a table and sat down, happy to be done with their jobs and just enjoying each other's company._

 _However Natsu crashed heavily at Macao's table, groaning as the chair took all the pressure off his back and feet before letting out a deep sigh and looking at Macao from across the table, with a certain look on his face before he spoke._

" _You look like some sort of royalty today." Natsu quipped at Macao, who looked down at what he was wearing, it certainly wasn't anything special, before he caught onto what Natsu was saying and a small frown appeared on his face._

" _What? Don't like the Knight in Shining Armor look?" Macao responded, hoping this wasn't going where he thought it was._

" _A Knight in Shining Armor has never had his armor truly tested" Natsu quickly shot back._

" _What's wrong with his first job being to save the princess?"_

" _He'd have to slay the dragon first"_

" _Are you sure you want to do this Natsu?"_

" _Look around you, we have no other choice."_

 _Macao sighed as he stood up and gestured for Wakaba to come with him. "Reedus, Alzack, Bisca, meet us in the Master's office." Macao called out, making the three stand up and race towards the Master's office just as fast as the rest of them._

 _When they all arrived, Macao quickly shut and locked the door before turning to the four mages who were still in the dark._

" _We're putting Operation Knightfall into play." Natsu stated bluntly, gaining a few gasps of shock from the other four, the loudest being from Bisca._

" _Natsu, that's a stupid idea. We're doing just fine as we are no-" Alzack protested before Natsu cut him off rudely._

" _No, we aren't doing fine, I dragged you both on five separate jobs today in order to just pay rent on this place for the month, and the rest going to you two for your apartment. Not a cent towards repairing the guildhall and no longer making us get pity jobs." Natsu snapped, before Alzack had a brief thought run through his mind_

And not a single cent towards you either.

 _Natsu sighed deeply. "Look, over the past two years my bounty has grown to about twenty million jewel, the highest in the Kingdom. With that sum, you could completely remodel this place, draw in some new attention and get some new faces in here. Please, I'm asking all of you. It was my fault I nearly destroyed this guild two years ago, I wasn't strong enough. But I'm strong enough to save it now." Natsu declared, making everyone in the room go silent._

 _It was a well known fact that Natsu still blamed himself for the deaths upon Tenrou Island two years prior, even though many in the guildhall had tried to convince him otherwise, there were still his darker thoughts and the occasional jackass in the guildhall who made him think otherwise._

" _Someone call the council." Wakaba said in a defeated voice, as the others reluctantly agreed._

 _Natsu cracked his neck and turned towards the gun mages. "Welp, open fire, we gotta make it look convincing don't we?"_

* * *

"The decision still haunts me to this day." Macao said as he buried his face in his hands, his body slightly shaking from the guilt that plagued him.

"They boy sacrificed his freedom so that our guild could survive. Was he even a member?" Makarov muttered, before Macao snorted.

"We forced him to become a member after the first two months when it was clear we were gonna need him." Macao responded, gaining a nod from Makarov.

"Very well then, what prison is he being held in, I want to personally thank Natsu for giving up so much for my guild" Makarov declared as he began to stand up, but only made Macao shudder as he buried his face further in his hands.

"The council lied when they said they'd just imprison him"

* * *

" _And the bounty for one Natsu Dragneel." Lahar said as he gestured to the cat behind him, which was filled to the brim with cash. "And some escorts so you aren't robbed along the way. Guards, escort the Prisoner to the range." Lahar ordered, causing Macao and Wakaba some confusion._

" _What range?" Wakaba asked, a sick feeling forming in his stomach._

" _Firing Range. Dangerous criminals such as Dragneel cannot be kept alive, and must be executed. It will be done swiftly and effectively, thank you for your cooperation." Lahar said before he turned on his heel before pausing. "If you wish to watch, there is a viewing booth nearby. Take a left, go down three halls then take another left. Give him his last rights or something." Lahar said with a shrug as he marched off._

 _Macao and Wakaba stood frozen in place for at least a solid minute. This wasn't how the plan was supposed to go at all. Natsu would be thrown in jail, most likely for the rest of his life, but he would still be alive. That was the only reason anyone agreed to even making this plan, no one died during it._

 _Faster than Jet could comprehend, Wakaba and Macao raced to the mentioned viewing booth and began to pound on the window, watching in horror as Natsu was stripped of his armor and stood shirtless in front of a readying firing squad, whom he was staring at challengingly._

" _Squad, are you ready?" Came a loud, mechanical voice from over the speaker, seemingly a recording. It gained the knights in the rooms attention as they all grabbed their rifles off the rack and began to make their way towards the range._

 _With the target being one Natsu Dragneel._

 _The range was a pale, medical level white, with Natsu standing on a black platform that must reflect any form of liquid. Probably easier to clean up the blood that way. Each light above their heads burned bright with it's UV bulbs, shining a light that could quickly cause a headache to anyone who wasn't about to be shot._

 _Macao and Wakaba pounded harder on the glass, yelling out their protests, but the glass appeared to be both bullet proof and soundproof, because the glass didn't even crack and not a single knight turned around to face them._

" _Ready" Came the mechanical voice._

 _The duo from Fairy Tail looked on in horror as the Rune Knights each loaded their rifles. Each click of a clip sounding like a thunderbolt and each snap of the bolt reminding them of a whip, ready to bring pain to whomever it would strike._

 _They were using actual bullets. Not magic bullets that just stung like a bitch when you got shot, actual, flesh tearing bullets, the ones that were outlawed for having such a high death rate. It was sickening really, the people who outlawed those weapons were now using them to kill an outlaw._

 _However, Natsu was standing there perfectly calm. Not a trace of fear in his eyes as he stood challengingly towards the Rune Knights, some of whom seemed to enjoy the fact that they'd get to kill the Salamander. Quite the achievement._

" _Aim"_

 _And in a painstakingly long time, each Rune Knight slowly brought the gun up to their eyes and held it steady whilst looking down range at the eerily calm Natsu Dragneel. Each scope resembling the eye of a predator, ready to kill._

" _Prisoner, do you have any last words?"_

 _Natsu snorted as he heard the mechanical announcement and briefly wondered how many prisoners had heard the same announcement. How many had begged for their lives and how many had stood there, ready for their end. Just like him._

 _Truth be told, he had no fear of death. Sure, an Etherious/Dragon/Human like him could fall just as easily in his human form as a person would, so Natsu had learned to be accepting of his fate. Should he die, he wouldn't do it whimpering like some coward._

" _Last words are for men who haven't said enough. Take your shot" Natsu declared._

" _Fire."_

 _In an instant, seven shots echoed throughout the facility, and time seemed to slow for Macao and Wakaba. They saw each bullet leave the gun, travel down range and each bullet meet it's mark in Natsu's unprotected, unscaled body._

 _The first hit him in the shoulder, the next in his left pectoral. The third bullet whizzed right next to his head and took a tuft of hair with it, with the fourth digging square into his stomach. The fifth bullet dug in right above the fourth, with the six hitting Natsu in his right pectoral. The final bullet dug into Natsu's side, in the exact spot one could harmlessly take a bullet._

 _Natsu fell._

 _Well, fell a rather coordinated word isn't it? Crumpled is more like it, like a used piece of paper being rolled up, collapsing, dying, death dealt. Blood rushed from each and every hole on his bullet ridden body, and Wakaba could've he heard a pained groan from Natsu._

" _Commander, deliver the coup mortel." Came the mechanical voice one last time as one of the Rune Knights walked forward towards the bleeding body that used to be Natsu Dragneel and pulled a pistol from his hip before aiming it at Natsu's head._

 _Wakaba and Macao looked on in absolute shock as the commander lowered his head and closed his eyes, as if praying, before firmly pulling the trigger and firing a bullet down right into Natsu's head._

 _The smoke mage staggered backwards and slumped to the floor, the realization of what had just happened sinking in._

 _Natsu Dragneel was dead._

* * *

Makarov stood stiff as a board as he heard the tale of the Dragonslayer's end. Seeking redemption and to help out his comrades he had been gunned down by those who claimed to serve the light, but apparently did so in the darkest way possible.

"After that… well, we rebuilt. We weren't going to let his sacrifice go to waste. You guys didn't get to see it yet, but we have a memorial for him out back. I just hope the Tenrou Group doesn't accidentally trash it in their partying. Someone here might actually kill them." Macao noted with a small look to the door, making Makarov nod.

"I'll make sure they go nowhere near the monument until they are sobered up."

* * *

 _One Hundred Fifty Two Miles Away:_

The Dark Guild Hell's Hand was in full celebration. Their latest raiding party had gone off without a hitch and they'd snagged the dark artifact that they'd been looking for after all this time. An axe that could level entire forests in one swoop if used by the right mage, now they just had to figure out who in the guild could wield it.

However, mid celebration, the entire guild felt the floor shake. Everyone froze and slowly drew their weapons, readying themselves for a Rune Knight attack and to defend their newest cargo. They were gonna be one of the big dogs now, take Grimoire Heart's place. No one was going to take that from them.

What they didn't account for thought, was for the a flash of light before the guildhall detonated and most of the members were sent flying, either heavily injured from the attack or right out unconscious.

What the survivors saw terrified them.

Standing in front of what used to be the entrance, stood a hooded man and a giant, black and byzantium dragon, ready to tear the guild to pieces.

"Well then, looks like Jellal owes me fifty jewel for that bet." The man said with a crooked grin as he forced his arm out, revealing a variety of blue tribal tattoos intertwining with black ones as well. His fingers danced with dark energy as he prepared an attack. " **Blade of Rapture** " He called out as three consecutive blasts of the black energy launched from his hand and landed in the guildhall, knocking out any survivors of the initial attack. A lock of pink hair could be seen from under the hood, along with a toothy grin at the obliteration.

* * *

 _Natsu groaned as he curled in on himself. His entire body hurt, he could tell he was bleeding from several places on his chest and shoulders, and the final shot had just graced his skull, just missing his eye, which was now covered in blood._

" _Hey assholes." Natsu wheezed as he coughed up a small amount of blood. "You didn't even do the job right, get back here and finish it." The dying dragonslayer taunted as he felt his life being to slowly leave his body._

 _That was before someone decided to intervene._

" _ **Restore**_ " _Came an awfully familiar, soft, feminine voice. In an instant, Natsu felt his wounds begin to close, the bullets being forced out of his body and the blood on the floor being purified and placed back in him._

 _He was far from unaffected though. Bullet scars still marred his chest and shoulder, leaving six ugly dots on his torso and he now had a scar spanning right over his right eye, where the coup mortel had missed. Wonderful, new scars. He always needed more._

 _Natsu ground his teeth in pain as the process was completed, before he opened his bleary eyes to see Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy looking down on him._

" _Come now Natsu, I just healed you, I think you can stand up." Ultear jabbed lightly as she held her hand out for him, which he eagerly accepted and hoisted himself to his feet, his chest groaning in protest."  
_ " _What. the hell. are you doing here." Natsu panted as he leaned on Ultear shoulder for a moment, before pushing off and regaining his balance. Seriously, what were they doing in a prison firing squad?_

" _Interesting thank you." Jellal noted with a small smile as Natsu noted he wasn't wearing hooded robes like Ultear and Meredy, rather he was in just pants like Natsu was. Prisoner attire. "They were actually here to break me out, but heard you were here as well, and decided to gather you as well." Jellal explained as Natsu gave them a distrustful glance._

" _Look, I'm really grateful for your help, but I'm not returning to a life of darkness. I've had enough of that for my life." Natsu shot at the three, who looked at him in understanding._

" _So have we, which is why were forming an independent guild, with the mission of devoting our lives to purging this world of darkness, so that everyone may live in the light." Ultear explained to Natsu as she looked him up and down. "And we would like you to join us."_

 _There was a tension filled moment where Natsu stood, silent as a stone, considering the offer. Weighing the pros and cons before he spoke again._

" _I'll join you, but on a few conditions." Natsu said._

" _What are they?" asked Meredy._

" _I need to speak with the dark guild Tartaros, my brother asked me to." Natsu explained, gaining alarmed looks from Jellal and Meredy, while only a look of understanding from Ultear._

" _I believe that's perfectly reasonable." Ultear said as she shot her two teammates a 'we'll explain later' look. "But before we leave, do you know anyone else who lived in the dark, but would be willing to help destroy it?" Ultear asked, making Natsu stop and pause for a second._

" _I've got a few ideas."_

* * *

"You've destroyed my guild." Stammered what the hooded figure could only assume was the guildmaster of Hell's Hand. He wasn't anything special, not even worth remembering really. Just an average guy with slightly higher magic power than anyone else in this guild.

The Hood shrugged. "So what if I did, you're not going to stop me. Do you even know who I am?"

The guildmaster trembled. "The hood and the dragon, black energy dancing at your fingers, you're the Warlord of Ishgar, please, have mercy on me!" He begged as the Warlord rolled his eyes and walked over to the shaking guildmaster.

"No." Was the curt response as a fist slammed into the guildmaster's temple, sending him sprawling, and knocking him clean out as the the Warlord looked at his surroundings, before flickering out of existence and his dragon, that had been waiting outside was surrounded in a deep imperial flame. When it died down, it revealed the same man as before, who flipped his hood back to reveal a wild mane of pink hair and a small grin on his face, his onyx eyes twinkling with mischief.

Maybe Natsu Dragneel wasn't so dead.

Pressing his finger to his earpiece, Natsu honed in to his other teammates, and quickly grabbed their attention.

"Jellal, my work's done here. Grab Cobra and Dyst and search this place for the axe. I'm taking the rest of the day off."

" _You mean so you can go sleep with Ultear?_ " Came the joking tone of Cobra across the line, making Natsu roll his eyes with a small smile on his face.

"Just get down here you three." Natsu shot back quickly before cutting off the line. Just as he prepared to teleport back to the base, he felt a surge of magic travel across the land, making his enhanced senses shiver and Natsu knew exactly what direction it came from as well. Tenrou Island.

 _So, they did survive._

* * *

 _Well I'm really late with this chapter aren't I? Sorry, last few months've been hectic. Also, a small note for the future. When I finish an arc, the next chapter's gonna take a bit longer since I've been planning this story out arc by arc with a few obscure ideas for the future thrown in there. But yeah other than that, I'm back, god knows when Dragonslayers is going up (I just can't get it quite right) and I hope you guys all enjoyed. Lemme know what you thought and I'll see you guys later._

 _~Solo_


End file.
